In this issue: Tec Kinases in the Crosshairs

Abstract

Tec family kinases are the second largest family of non-receptor tyrosine kinases, of critical importance to the biology of cells derived from the bone marrow. Significant progress in this area during the last decade revealed a role for several of these kinases in inflammatory and oncologic disorders. This led to the discovery and development of molecular targeted therapies against Tec kinases, most notably to date Btk, already showing promising clinical activity in B cell lymphoma and autoimmunity. As Btk does not carry oncogenic modifications, this also establishes a novel therapeutic paradigm, based on targeting ancillary pathways recruited by the pathogenic process to become pivotal to cancer cell's biology. This issue focuses on biology and translation of Tec kinases, at the cross-roads between immunology and cancer.