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Blood, 15 August 2005, Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 1143-1144. This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fonseca, R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Fonseca, R. Related Collections Related Article in Blood Online Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Article  NEOPLASIA Comment on Tassone et al, page 1341 A "not so micro" model for a "macro" problem Rafael Fonseca MAYO CLINIC SCOTTSDALE Tassone and colleagues present a new mouse model for the study of Waldenström macroglobulinemia. A major impediment to the understanding of Waldenström macroglobulinemia is the lack of adequate in vivo and in vitro models for the study of this indolent lymphoproliferative disorder. The bulk of studies describing disease biology and genetics have been descriptive because of the limited proliferative potential of the tumor cells.1 In this issue of Blood, Tassone and colleagues report on the first successful model that recapitulates Waldenström macroglobulinemia by implanting human xenograft cells into immunodeficient mice implanted with human fetal bone chips (SCID-hu). The investigators were initially unable to establish growth in the absence of the bone matrix. However, unlike the case of human multiple myeloma, where the SCID-hu model has been applied most successfully, the role of or need for human grafts in sustaining clonal growth derived from Waldenström macroglobulinemia bone marrow is not yet clear. Waldenström macroglobulinemia cells can grow in lymphoid organs and liver, although this only occurs in a minority of patients. Although further study is needed, this work presents the first bona fide model acceptable for preclinical testing of agents, as previously demonstrated in the application of rituximab (see figure). Furthermore, this model allows for the study of the complex interaction of clonal cells with other cells, such as mast cells, which are known to be commonly present in the bone marrow of patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia. This is a big "mouse-sized" step for those who study Waldenström macroglobulinemia! View larger version (15K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Engraftment of primary patient WM cells in SCID-hu mice. See the complete figure in the article beginning on page 1341.   References Schop RF, Kuehl WM, Van Wier SA, et al. Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia neoplastic cells lack immunoglobulin heavy chain locus translocations but have frequent 6q deletions. Blood. 2002;100: 2996-3001.[Abstract/Free Full Text] CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? Related Article in Blood Online: A SCID-hu in vivo model of human Waldenström macroglobulinemia Pierfrancesco Tassone, Paola Neri, Jeffery L. Kutok, Olivier Tournilhac, Daniel Ditzel Santos, Evdoxia Hatjiharissi, Vidit Munshi, Salvatore Venuta, Kenneth C. Anderson, Steven P. Treon, and Nikhil C. Munshi Blood 2005 106: 1341-1345. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fonseca, R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Fonseca, R. Related Collections Related Article in Blood Online Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

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