Preface

The first edition of Williams Hematology (né Hematology) was published in 1972. This, our 10th edition, represents our continued efforts over one-half century to provide the most current concepts of the genetic basis, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of hematologic diseases.

The rate of growth in our understanding of diseases of blood cells and coagulation pathways has justified, indeed mandated, the effort of the editors to publish periodic major revisions in this comprehensive textbook of hematology. The sequencing of patient genomes and advances in knowledge in epigenetics, proteomics, and metabolomics, as applied to hematologic disorders, have accelerated the understanding of the pathogenesis of the diseases of our interest and provided new pathways to treatment. Advances in our dissection of molecular and cellular biology and immunology have translated into improved diagnostic and therapeutic methods. Customizing immunotherapy to attack tumor cell antigens and identifying specific molecular targets for therapy in several hematologic disorders have, as anticipated, become reality. Gene therapy is being implemented to cure selected, monogenic, inherited hematologic diseases, such as hemophilia A and B. Sickle cell anemia is a disease about which we have known more than almost any other genetic disorder, yet we have been unable to modulate, significantly, its horrific impact on patients. Finally, we may be edging toward a dramatic improvement in therapy by preventing the suppression of F hemoglobin synthesis after birth, minimizing the fraction of hemoglobin S in postnatal blood. Other promising approaches to gene therapy are also being studied in sickle cell anemia and thalassemia. CRISPR-Cas9 methodology has been a singular application in several of these gene-editing approaches. Hematology continues to be the poster child for the rational design of therapeutics applicable to other fields of medicine.

This edition of Williams Hematology endeavors to facilitate access to information, both within the book and its associated links. Each chapter has been revised or rewritten to provide current information. To reflect the increased application of immunotherapy, chapters on this important topic have been added, including Chapter 22, "Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors"; Chapter 23, "Immune Cell Therapy: Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy"; and Chapter 24, "Immune Cell Therapy: Dendritic Cell and Natural Killer Cell Therapy," along with the revised and updated Chapter 25, "Vaccine Therapy." A new Chapter 12, "Application of Big Data and Deep Learning in Hematology" has been introduced.

At the center of diagnostic hematology is blood and marrow cell morphology. Thus, we have continued the incorporation of informative color images representing the relevant diseases in each chapter, allowing easy access to illustrations of cell morphology important to diagnosis.

The 10th edition of Williams Hematology is also available online as part of the excellent www.accessmedicine.com website. With direct links to a comprehensive drug therapy database and to other important medical texts, including Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine and Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Williams Hematology Online is part of a comprehensive resource covering all disciplines within medical education and practice. The online edition of Williams Hematology also includes PubMed links to journal articles cited in the references. New in this online edition is the presentation of clinical cases for readers to explore, each linked to the relevant disease-oriented chapter.

The companion handbook, Williams Manual of Hematology, will be revised to reflect the diagnostic and therapeutic advances entered into the 10th edition of Williams Hematology. The Manual features the most salient clinical content from the parent text and is useful in time-restricted clinical situations. The Manual will be available for the iPhone and other mobile formats. It has been particularly useful for physicians studying for the American Board of Internal Medicine Certification in Hematology and comparable other examinations in other jurisdictions.

The production of this book required the timely cooperation of 233 contributors for the writing or revising of 140 chapters. We are grateful for their insight and work in providing this comprehensive and up-to-date text. Despite the growth of both basic and clinical knowledge and the passion that each of our contributors brings to the topic of their chapter, we have been able to maintain the text in a single volume through attention to chapter length.

The editorial board has lost the experience and intellect of Oliver W. Press, who died from a malignant brain tumor in 2017 and who had joined the board as the expert in lymphopoiesis and lymphoma for the 9th edition. His contributions to the field and to his institution, The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, were singular.

The readers of the 10th edition of Williams Hematology will note the expanding international participation in the text with the addition of Professor David Linch, University College, London, who is the editor for the biology and diseases of lymphocytes and the lymphoma sections. Thus, the 10th edition has two of its six editors from the United Kingdom and chapter authors from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom in addition to the United States. The preparation of this edition of Williams Hematology required our authors throughout Europe, other international sites, and the United States to remain dedicated to their task despite the impact of the new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection and its dissemination as coronavirus disease, first identified in late 2019 (COVID-19) and thereafter became a pandemic, a contagion of historic consequences. The editors are grateful for their dedication despite the hardships endured by many of our contributors.

The editors have had expert administrative assistance in the management of the manuscripts for which they were primarily responsible. We thank Susan Daley in Rochester, New York; Teresa MacDonald in London, United Kingdom; and Shelly Saxton in Salt Lake City, Utah, for their very helpful participation in the production of the book. Special acknowledgment goes to Marie Brito in Stony Brook, New York, who was responsible for coordinating the management of 140 chapters, including many new figures, tables, and clinical cases, and managing other administrative matters, a challenging task that Ms. Brito performed with skill and good humor. The editors also acknowledge the interest and support of our colleagues at McGraw Hill, including James F. Shanahan, Vice President and Group Publisher; Karen G. Edmonson, Senior Content Acquisitions Editor; Kim Davis, Developmental Director; Leah Carton, Editorial Coordinator; and Revathi Viswanathan, Client Services Manager for Williams Hematology.