Feature Channels: Blood

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For many people with classical Hodgkin lymphoma, the disease is one of the most curable forms of cancer with standard chemotherapy or chemo plus radiotherapy. But for the 10 to 30 percent of patients whose cancer relapses, or doesn’t respond to initial therapy, secondary treatment often involves harsher chemotherapies followed by an autologous stem cell transplant, which uses a patient’s own stem cells.

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Media Pitch

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En los resultados presentados ante la Sociedad Americana de Hematología, los investigadores de Mayo Clinic descubrieron que los emoticones, en lugar de las tradicionales escalas de emociones, sirven para evaluar la calidad de vida física, emocional y general de los pacientes.

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Un grupo de investigadores de Mayo Clinic y de varios otros centros docentes de investigación en Italia descubrieron un modelo genético para predecir resultados en pacientes con mielofibrosis primaria, de 70 años o menos y candidatos a trasplante de células madre como tratamiento para su enfermedad.

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Using light-emitting nanoparticles, Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists have invented a highly effective method to detect tiny tumors and track their spread, potentially leading to earlier cancer detection and more precise treatment. The technology, announced today, could improve patient cure rates and survival times.

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• Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD, current chair of Medical Oncology, was presented with recognition at annual American Society of Hematology meeting • Ebert is notable for his leadership in describing the genomic landscape of adult myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

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An observational study by researchers at Mayo Clinic has found that increasing physical activity not only decreased the risk of death from all causes but also decreased the risk of death specifically from lymphoma.

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• Azacitidine reverses resistance to SL-401 in AML and BPDCN cell lines, researchers find • Results prompt clinical trial of SL-401 and azacitidine in AML and MDS patients

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A cost analysis by researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine shows treatment plans that set individualized blood sugar goals for diabetes patients, tailored to their age and health history, can save $13,546 in health care costs over their average lifetime when compared with treatment strategies that stick to a uniform national standard.

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Researchers have identified a promising new strategy to fight infections and cancer. They uncovered a novel function for a protein known as “Runx3” that is key to the development of killer T cells—immune cells important for fighting infections and cancer.

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Initial findings from a multi-national open-label phase Ib study of inhibitory drug therapy for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have demonstrated a complete response in up to 50 percent patients say researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center .

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Dr. Eunice Wang was invited to discuss results of a phase II clinical trial of crenolanib for adults with AML at the ASH 2017 annual meeting, and Dr. Kara Kelly, senior author of an oral abstract on outcomes disparities among children and adolescents with Hodgkin lymphoma.

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Among younger patients newly diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), treatment with a combination of chemotherapy and a molecularly targeted drug significantly improves response over what is typically seen with chemotherapy alone, according to an investigator-initiated multi-center phase II clinical trial.

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In a pair of clinical trials stretching from Philadelphia to Tokyo, the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy Kymriah™ (formerly known as CTL019) demonstrated long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients. Results from a global, multisite trial will be presented today at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta (Abstract #577). Results from the single-site study, with follow-up extending past two years, will be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have carried out the largest genomic analysis of patients with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM), a precursor to full-blown blood cancer that doesn’t show outward symptoms.

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Although people with multiple myeloma usually respond well to treatment, the blood cancer generally keeps coming back. Following genetic changes in how the disease evolves over time will help to understand the disease and, eventually, deliver more effective treatments.

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• Clinical Activity in a Phase 1 Study of BLU-285, a Potent, Highly-Selective Inhibitor of KIT D816V in Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis • Study shows one of multiple ways in which novel targeted cancer therapies are now being deployed to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with rare, advanced, or difficult-to-treat blood malignancies.

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Daily low doses of the immune signaling protein interleukin-2 (IL-2) can safely benefit patients who develop chronic graft-versus-host disease following stem cell transplants, including particular benefit in pediatric patients in one small study, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

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Loyola University Medical Center is the only Chicago center that participated in the pivotal clinical trial of a groundbreaking cancer treatment that genetically engineers a patient's immune system to attack cancer cells.

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Immunotherapy agents known as checkpoint inhibitors have shown considerable promise in patients with hematologic cancers who relapse after a transplant with donor stem cells. Preliminary results from the first clinical trial in these patients of one such agent – nivolumab – indicate that along with signs of effectiveness, it also produced significant side effects at the dose initially studied. The findings indicate a need for further clinical trials in this group before being considered for off-label use with these patients, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators report.

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A group of investigators from Mayo Clinic and multiple academic research centers in Italy have identified a genetic model for predicting outcomes in patients with primary myelofibrosis who are 70 years or younger and candidates for stem cell transplant to treat their disease.

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2-year-old Children's Hospital Los Angeles patient Pierce Kelly beats leukemia thanks to a stem cell donor in France and inspires thousands of potential donors.

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Mohamad Cherry, MD, leads a major session on new discoveries about the most common type of acute adult leukemia and helps present results of four major blood cancer studies at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 59th Annual Meeting, December 9-12 in Atlanta, GA. The meeting is the world’s pre-eminent gathering of clinicians and researchers focused on blood diseases, who travel from nearly 100 countries to hear the latest research developments. An internationally known hematology/oncology researcher, Dr. Cherry recently joined Atlantic Hematology Oncology, part of Atlantic Health System’s Atlantic Medical Group at Morristown Medical Center’s Carol G. Simon Cancer Center, from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center’s Stephenson Cancer Center.

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Engineers at the UC San Diego Center for Wearable Sensors have developed a smartphone case and app that could make it easier for patients to record and track their blood glucose readings, whether they’re at home or on the go.

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Scientists have identified a mechanism that explains the development of hyperaldosteronism, a condition in which the adrenal glands produce too much aldosterone, The findings, published in JCI Insight, offer a path for drug discovery to treat the condition.

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About half of people with blood clots in the deep veins of their legs develop a complication that involves chronic limb pain and swelling, making it difficult to walk and perform daily activities. A large-scale clinical trial has shown that a risky, costly procedure to remove such clot fails to reduce the likelihood that patients will develop the debilitating complication.

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A team of gene therapy researchers has reported positive results in a phase 1/2 clinical trial for the inherited bleeding disorder hemophilia B. A single intravenous infusion of a novel bioengineered gene therapy treatment enabled adult participants to safely produce sustained levels of clotting factor that prevented debilitating bleeding episodes. Patients were able to terminate prophylactic treatments--the gene therapy nearly universally eliminated their need for intravenous infusions of manufactured clotting factor.

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Spark Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ONCE), a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to challenging the inevitability of genetic disease, and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), today announced that The New England Journal of Medicine has published interim data as of July 25, 2017, from the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of SPK-9001, an investigational gene therapy for hemophilia B.

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Using zebrafish mutants in four different estrogen receptors, Daniel Gorelick has found a novel mechanism of estrogen action on heart physiology. Broader use of the mutants, he says, may have significant implications for studies of estrogenic environmental endocrine disruptors.

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A clinical trial using genetic testing to match acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with new therapies is now open at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). The center is one of seven cancer centers nationwide participating in the Beat AML® Master Trial, sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

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High blood pressure (hypertension) is redefined for the first time in 14 years by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines.

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Scientists at Seattle Children’s Research Institute have unlocked the ability to engineer B cells, uncovering a potential new cell therapy that could someday prevent and cure disease.

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Using a database of multiple myeloma patient samples and information, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that high ADAR1 levels correlate with reduced survival rates. They also determined that blocking the enzyme reduces multiple myeloma regeneration in experimental models derived from patient cancer cells.

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Researchers from the Hackensack Merdian Health John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center will present results from 46 cancer-related studies during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 59th Annual Meeting, which will take place December 9 – 12, 2017 in Atlanta. The studies examine new cancer treatments, ways to predict the best treatment outcomes, and patient quality of life issues.

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New supercomputer simulations have revealed the role of transport proteins called efflux pumps in creating drug-resistance in bacteria, research that could lead to improving the drugs’ effectiveness against life-threatening diseases and restoring the efficacy of defunct antibiotics.

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The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) unanimously approved yesterday two grants worth a total of almost $8 million to University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers investigating novel stem cell-based treatments for acute myeloid leukemia or AML.

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Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will present their latest findings involving drug treatments for blood cancers at the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition Dec. 8-12 in Atlanta.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists report that combining the anti-malaria drug DHA with an emerging class of targeted agents may improve treatment of a high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia subtype

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NYU Langone Health has announced that nationally renowned physician and researcher Raoul Tibes, MD, PhD, will lead efforts to expand the clinical and investigative leukemia programs at its Perlmutter Cancer Center.

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Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) can protect individuals who have had type 1 diabetes for years and are at risk of experiencing dangerously low blood sugar by increasing their awareness of the symptoms, according to a study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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The following handbooks, produced by APHON, provide an overview for patients and their families on specific hematologic and oncologic diseases.

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In a small study using data from daily electronic patient diaries, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found a link between negative emotions, such as sadness and anxiety, and higher opioid use in people with sickle cell disease whose pain levels were self-reported as relatively low.

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The final results of the DAWN study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, show that select patients with stroke caused by a blood clot can be effectively treated with a procedure to remove the clot mechanically – and that this can be done up to 24 hours after the onset of symptoms.

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By reducing out-of-pocket costs for preventive treatment, the Affordable Care Act appears to have encouraged more people to have health screenings related to their cardiovascular health, a UCLA study found.

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A study of more than 400 adults with prehypertension, or stage 1 high blood pressure, found that combining a low-salt diet with the heart-healthy DASH diet substantially lowers systolic blood pressure — the top number in a blood pressure test — especially in people with higher baseline systolic readings.

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Anyah wasn't going to let sickle cell disease keep her from going on her high school class trip to Europe. Thanks to Natalie Kamberos, DO, and the care Anyah received at Loyola Medicine, Anyah was able to climb the Eiffel Tower and make it a trip of a lifetime.

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A grant from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will help fund clinical research led by UNC Lineberger's Barbara Savoldo, MD, PhD, into an investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia that would include a built-in "safety switch."

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Drugs designed to halt cancer growth may offer a new way to control high blood pressure (hypertension), say Georgetown University Medical Center investigators. The finding could offer a real advance in hypertension treatment because although a number of high blood pressure drugs are now available, they work by different mechanisms that are not suited for all patients.

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