ABC of clinical haematology: The future of haematology, molecular biology, and gene therapy

摘要

This article will assess the impact of advances in science and technology on the practice of haematology and attempt to predict how haematology will change further over the next 10 to 15 years. The major advances in scientific thought and technological development that have already changed the practice of modern haematology are likely to affect both laboratory diagnosis and treatment in the future. This article will address three specific area of haematology-anaemia, haemophilia, and leukaemia-and explain how important innovations could be expected to change clinical practice in these areas. The article begins, however, with an overview of gene therapy, which, although currently some way from curing haematological diseases, is likely to have a role in most areas of haematological practice in the future. Both diagnostically and therapeutically, the identification of the molecular pathology of the underlying disorder will continue to steer the future, but the ability to make more accurate diagnoses has not yet resulted in improved treatment.