Rationale for the design of combination therapies that are active in T-cell lymphomas?

The lymphomas are the most diverse group of diseases within any single class of malignancy. More than thirty different clinico-pathologic diseases have been identified and classified. Such a variety of diseases of the lymphoid system likely are the result of the unique etiology of each individual tumor type. On the basis of function, T-cells and B-cells have distinctly different functions, and undoubtedly activate genes to drive the different specialized pathways to achieve these purposes. Factors that clearly have a role in lymphomagenesis include illegitimate gene recombination, infection by oncogenic viruses, impaired host immunity, and persistent proliferation driven by inflammation.