August 2019
Volume 5, Issue 10
This issue features a debate about gun control as a health care issue, a look at blood services in Israel and Palestine, and more.
Table of Contents
August 2019 Issue
Burnout: A Major Injury
In our June 2019 issue, ASH Clinical News Associate Editor Alice Ma, MD, examined the recent attention being paid to physician wellness and burnout,...
The Biggest Losers
(Author’s note: The other biggest losers appearing herein will remain nameless and will owe me a nice dinner for sparing them, but more on...
Bringing Cancer Center Expertise to Rural Hospitals
Kevin Brigle, PhD, ANP, describes an outreach program that provides rural communities with access to cancer treatment.For the past 15 years, I have run...
August 2019 Issue
ASH Backs Palliative Blood Transfusions During Hospice Care, Announces 2019 Honorific and Mentor Award...
ASH Backs the Use of Palliative Blood Transfusions During Hospice Care for Symptom Improvement
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has announced its support...
Remembering Gustave Eisemann, Cigall Kadoch Wins 2019 Wachtel Cancer Research Prize, and more
Remembering Gustave Eisemann (1926 – 2019)
Gustave Eisemann, MD, passed away on May 26, 2019.
Born in Halberstadt, Germany, Dr. Eisemann came to the U.S. in...
August 2019 Issue
Israel and Palestine Find Common Ground in Blood Services
The borders between Israelis and Palestinians are among the most formidable in the world. The walls are high, the guards on both sides are...
Is Gun Control a Health Care Issue?
In October 2018, the American College of Physicians (ACP) clarified its stance on whether gun control should be treated as a public health issue:...
Pulling Back the Curtain: Saad Z. Usmani, MD
In this edition, Saad Z. Usmani, MD, talks about the art of emotional intelligence and trekking to Mount Everest base camp with his patients.
Hear more...
August 2019 Issue
What could provoke venous thromboembolisms in two teenaged siblings?
This month, Leslie J. Raffini, MD, discusses treating large venous thromboembolisms in two teenaged siblings.
And don't forget to check out next month's clinical dilemma -...
Readers’ Responses: What could provoke venous thromboembolisms in two teenaged siblings?
Here’s how readers responded to a You Make the Call question about large venous thromoembolisms in two teenaged siblings.
Disclaimer: ASH does not recommend or...
August 2019 Issue
Can a Patient’s Breath Detect Post-Transplant Gastrointestinal Graft-Versus-Host Disease?
Analyzing the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) expelled in the breath can help clinicians detect and monitor gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease (GI GVHD) in patients who...
Voxelotor Increases Hemoglobin, Decreases Hemolysis in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease
A report from the phase III HOPE trial found that once-daily voxelotor led to greater increases in hemoglobin (Hb) levels and larger reductions in...
Bluebird Bio Wins European Approval for Beta Thalassemia Gene Therapy
Bluebird Bio’s one-time gene therapy, Zynteglo, has been cleared by E.U. regulators for the treatment of beta thalassemia in patients aged 12 and older....
Short, Aggressive Antibiotic Therapy Inhibits Lymphocyte Proliferation in CTCL
According to a study published in Blood, patients with advanced-stage cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) a short, yet aggressive, antibiotic regimen inhibited disease activity...
Opioid Manufacturer Insys Therapeutics Files for Bankruptcy
Insys Therapeutics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 10, just days after reaching a $225 million settlement with the U.S. Department of...
Evaluating Risk of Developing Second Cancers in Patients With Ph-Negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
According to results from a nested case-control study, patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)–negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are at an increased risk of developing secondary...
FDA Launches Call Center for Compassionate-Use Requests
The FDA has launched a call center to field doctors’ requests for access to experimental cancer drugs for individual patients who have run out...
Polatuzumab Vedotin-piiq Receives FDA Approval for DLBCL
The FDA has approved the CD79b-directed antibody drug conjugate polatuzumab vedotin-piiq, in combination with bendamustine and rituximab (BR), to treat adults with relapsed or...
August 2019 Issue
Daratumumab Combination Induces High Response Rates in AL Amyloidosis
In one-year follow-up data from the phase III ANDROMEDA trial, the combination of subcutaneous daratumumab with cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (CyBorD) led to high...
Erythropoietin Increases Hemoglobin and Reticulocyte Counts in Patients with Treatment-Refractory AIHA
In patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) unresponsive to ongoing and/or prior therapies, treatment with erythropoietin (EPO) effectively increased hemoglobin (Hb) and reticulocyte counts,...
Single-Agent Ibrutinib Improves Survival and Prolongs Time to Next Treatment in Early-Stage CLL
In the double-blind, randomized CLL12 trial, patients with treatment-naïve, early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who received single-agent ibrutinib had longer event-free survival (EFS), progression-free...
Evaluating PRM-151 in Patients With Myelofibrosis Resistant or Intolerant to Ruxolitinib
According to results from a double-blind, phase II study, PRM-151 improved bone marrow fibrosis grade, transfusion dependence, and symptoms in a cohort of patients...
