South African geneticist Ambroise Wonkam, M.D., Ph.D., D.Med.Sc., has been selected as Johns Hopkins Medicine’s director of the Department of Genetic Medicine and the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine.
A molecular building block of many animal proteins, the amino acid valine, plays a key role in cancerous growth seen in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a new study shows.
Pulmonary embolisms are dangerous, lung-clogging blot clots. In a pilot study, scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai showed for the first time that artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms can detect signs of these clots in electrocardiograms (EKGs), a finding which may one day help doctors with screening.
Although unproven, this novel sickle cell therapy serves as a potential cure. More measures need to be taken to determine long-term function and organ improvement.
UC Davis Health researchers showed that blocking IL-6 and TNF cytokines provides a more effective approach to preventing life-threatening graft-versus-host-disease, an inflammatory condition that develops in patients after their allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
A new review explores the physiology behind and proposed management strategies for body-wide symptoms of the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), otherwise known as “long COVID.” The review is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown, in a small clinical trial, that an immunotherapy harnessing pre-activated natural killer cells can help some children and young adults with recurrent AML and few other treatment options.
A drug combination can safely prevent transplanted stem cells (graft) from attacking the recipient’s (host) body, allowing them to develop into healthy new blood and immune cells, a new study shows.
Blood clots or thromboembolic complications in patients with COVID-19 are associated with increased levels of various proteins that cause blood to clot, compared with people with blood clots unrelated to COVID-19, according to a small study by Yale Cancer Center researchers. These findings may offer insights into novel therapeutic strategies to treat patients with COVID-19 related blood clots. The findings were reported today at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia.
The final results from a national phase 2 study including researchers from Yale Cancer Center show the drug tipifarnib increased survival rates for patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). The findings are being presented today at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia.
Combination therapies including venetoclax and another therapy have displayed promising results against subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that are particularly difficult to treat, including relapsed or refractory AML with a specific mutation, high-risk AML and treated secondary AML. Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented numerous studies involving venetoclax combination therapy for AML at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has recognized Stephen Ansell, M.D., of Mayo Clinic with the highly distinguished Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize as part of its Honorific Awards to recognize exemplary hematologists who have made significant contributions to the field and have been nominated by ASH members.
Young patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) can enjoy long remissions on the drug ibrutinib, but must stay on it indefinitely to keep the cancer in remission. A new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers suggests that a 2.5-year regimen involving ibrutinib and chemoimmunotherapy can provide deep, and lasting remissions of the disease.
Researchers from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, examined the effects of SIRT1, an enzyme located primarily in the cell nucleus that contributes to cellular regulation on the transformation of T-cells.
For patients with the blood cancer multiple myeloma, vaccination against COVID-19 provides some protection against coronavirus infection but to a far lower degree than the general population of cancer survivors, a new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators shows.
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center hematology experts in leukemia, lymphoma and other specialties will present new research at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), which begins today in Atlanta, Georgia. The many research projects to be highlighted include breakthrough research on CAR T cell therapy, immunotherapy, leukemia, lymphoma and the management of genetic mutations in aggressive and rare blood cancers.
Mount Sinai physician-scientists have found that a novel therapy for the bone marrow cancer myelofibrosis is safe and well-tolerated and is associated with modest improvements in patients in a Phase 1b clinical trial. They shared their findings during an oral presentation at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in December.
The first results from the largest screening study yet conducted in the U.S. of individuals at above-average risk for the blood cancer multiple myeloma have revealed higher rates of a myeloma precursor condition in older adults who are Black or who have a close family member with a current or past blood cancer.
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy or CAR T is a breakthrough treatment for patients with certain types of blood cancers. The cellular therapy uses a patient’s own immune cells that are reengineered to better seek out and destroy cancer cells. The single infusion treatment is approved for patients who have relapsed after two or more types of therapy but results from the ZUMA-7 clinical trial show lymphoma patients can benefit from receiving the CAR T product axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) sooner.
Three clinical studies led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated enhanced responses for patients with high-risk lymphoma treated with axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. These results were reported at the 2021 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.
Mount Sinai scientists have become the first to report a potentially serious side effect related to a new form of immunotherapy known as CAR-T cell therapy, which was recently approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Their findings were published as a case study in Nature Medicine in December.
Research underway at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey will contribute to the development of new cancer treatments that are based on the administration of cancer-fighting immune cells to patients.
Researchers from Hackensack Meridian Health John Theurer Cancer Center (JTCC), a part of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, will present updates on treatment advances in multiple myeloma, lymphoma, leukemia, and bone marrow transplantation at the 63rd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, to be held virtually and live at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta from December 11-14, 2021.
A new targeted nanomedicine treatment developed at the University of Chicago has shown promise in reducing vascular lesions caused by atherosclerosis in a mouse model.
Biomedical scientists at LMU have found a new marker in the blood of Covid-19 patients. It furnishes insights into the course and development of the disease and could lead to better diagnoses.
New research shows liquid biopsy for HPV-associated head and neck cancer is more than 98% accurate and obtained a diagnosis 26 days quicker on average than conventional tissue biopsy, in addition to costing 38% less. With HPV-associated head and neck cancer rates on the rise, there is a great need for more accurate, less-invasive, faster and less expensive diagnostic tests.
Seattle Children’s today announced five oral presentations at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, the world’s premier event in malignant and non-malignant hematology set to take place from Dec. 11-14.
Researchers have developed microbubbles to acoustically detect blood oxygen levels, since the microbubble shells are altered by structural hemoglobin changes in response to oxygen. The gas filling of the microbubbles causes them to oscillate and vibrate when ultrasound is applied, scattering energy and generating an acoustic response that can be detected by a clinical ultrasound scanner. Preliminary results show a strong correlation between oxygen concentration and the acoustic bubble response.
A statistical model developed by Université de Montréal researchers uses a blood biomarker of SARS-CoV-2 to identify infected patients who are most at risk of dying of COVID-19.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved a $4.1 million grant to enable University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers to advance a new chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy from the laboratory into the clinic.
Clonal hematopoiesis, a condition in which mutations associated with blood cancers are found in the blood of healthy people, is common with aging. When looking for appropriate stem cell/bone marrow donors, clinicians tend to stay away from older donors with clonal hematopoiesis (CH) because of concerns about passing potentially premalignant stem cells to the recipient.
Jeffrey L. Carson, MD, whose research has profoundly reshaped transfusion medicine is being honored by the American College of Physicians (ACP) with the John Phillips Memorial Award for Outstanding Work in Clinical Medicine for his career-long journey to improve health outcomes for patients.
A novel gene therapy for hemophilia A led to sustained expression of the clotting factor those patients lack, resulting in a reduction – or in some cases complete elimination – of painful and potentially life-threatening bleeding events, according to a new study led by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The results of the phase 1/2 trial, which were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, are the first to demonstrate stable coagulation factor VIII in hemophilia A patients following gene therapy.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recently published studies in basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. Current advances include discovering a new protein that regulates the DNA damage response, evaluating immunotherapy plus cryoablation to treat metastatic kidney cancer, identifying radiosensitizer targets to improve radiation therapy response, personalizing treatment intensity for acute myeloid leukemia, and identifying T cell features that play a role in response and resistance to cell therapy in leukemia.
Two genetic risk variants that are carried by nearly 40 percent of Black individuals may exacerbate the severity of both sepsis and COVID-19, a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine have found.
New research in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network finds fewer than one-third of hospitals had immediate availability of a crucial medication called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), initiated early in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)—a form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Researchers compared milvexian with enoxaparin for prevention of blood clots in 1,242 patients from18 countries undergoing knee replacement surgery who were enrolled between June 2019 and February 2021.They found that at a total daily dose of 100 mg or more, milvexian resulted in better clot protection but no increase in bleeding compared with enoxaparin, the control drug. Milvexian was evaluated in daily doses ranging from 25 to 400 mg; there was no increase in bleeding over this wide range of doses.
Patients with a rare immunodeficiency disorder who are treated with lifelong immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IRT) have a lower risk of premature death than patients treated with a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), but they also have a reduced quality of life and must assume a substantial financial burden, according to a new study led by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Using a computational model to calculate the costs and benefits of IRT and HSCT for patients with agammaglobulinemia, the researchers concluded that the high cost of IRT in the U.S. undermines its cost-utility, particularly when compared to Canada and European countries, where the cost of IRT is nearly a third of what it is in the U.S.
Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a method of stem cell transplantation that does not require radiation or chemotherapy. Instead, the strategy takes an immunotherapeutic approach, combining the targeted elimination of blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow with immune-modulating drugs to prevent the immune system from rejecting the new donor stem cells.
A new study suggests that because of improvements in stent technology and changes in the types of patients receiving stents, the risks of DAPT may now outweigh the benefits for the average patient.
A new study by researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center sheds light on how a critical protein plays a significant role as a gatekeeper for keeping aggressive secondary malignancies developing after chemotherapy for solid tumors.
People with blood cancers are at a higher risk than healthy individuals for severe and life-threatening COVID-19 illness; furthermore, research suggests that they do not always achieve optimal protection from vaccination.
Six-month outcomes from the randomized RADIANCE-HTN TRIO Trial comparing endovascular ultrasound renal denervation (RDN) to a sham procedure for treatment-resistant hypertension (HTN) found that the addition of a pharmacologic intervention led to further blood pressure reductions after RDN with a smaller increase in additional medications prescribed and less use of diuretics.
Nearly two years since becoming a global pandemic that has killed millions of people, the mystery of which proteins in the SARS-CoV-2 virus are responsible for severe vascular damage that could even lead to heart attack or stroke has not yet been solved.
Tips and insights from a 5-gallon donor, aimed at people who have never given blood and those who stopped a while ago. A critical shortage of blood could jeopardize care for people with cancer, organ failure, traumatic injury and more.
A growing number of hospitals have implemented patient blood management programs to reduce unnecessary blood transfusions and costs. A study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings finds that such a program can not only substantially reduce transfusion use, but also reduce length of hospital stays and in-hospital adverse outcomes.