February 2015
Volume 1, Issue 2
This issue features ABIM’s update to MOC, the endocrinologist’s perspective on diabetes management, an analysis of the Choosing Wisely program, and more.
Table of Contents
February 2015
Letter From a Cleveland Jail to the ABIM: Redux
Dear American Board of Internal Medicine,
Remember me? I’m the guy who sent those other letters to you over the past couple of years, in...
Managing the Diabetic Patient: The Endocrinologist’s Perspective
Where do the areas of hematology and endocrinology intersect in diabetes management?
I have found that, in order to do the endocrinology work that I...
February 2015
Speaking Up for Hematology: Change Comes at ABIM After Years of ASH Advocacy
Since 2001, ASH has challenged the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) on its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program, citing a lack of evidence for the...
NIH Awards Several Grants for Deciphering Gene Regulation, and more
Multiple Researchers Awarded NIH Grants to Decipher the Language of Gene Regulation
The National Institutes of Health has awarded multiple grants totaling more than $28 million aimed...
February 2015
Pulling Back the Curtain: Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD
What was your first job?
In high school, I built up a little business for myself as a math tutor for kids of all ages...
Who Cares About What Patients Think? The FDA, Insurance Payers, Researchers… Maybe You Should...
While patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are nothing new in the field of medicine, they may now be newly appreciated.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...
February 2015
Choosing Wisely Across the Spectrum of Internal Medicine
The Choosing Wisely® campaign, an initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, encourages clinicians and patients to engage in conversations to reduce...
Should I have concerns about using an oral thrombin inhibitor in a patient with...
This month, Michael H. Kroll, MD, advises on switching a patient with a history of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) from warfarin to an oral thrombin inhibitor.A...
What You Should Know About Sickle Cell Trait
Sickle cell trait (SCT) is not a mild form of sickle cell disease. Having SCT simply means that a person carries a single gene for sickle...
February 2015
Preventing Blood Clots without Increasing Bleeding Risk?
Clinicians treating patients with anticoagulants have to walk a fine line in preventing blood clot formation while also minimizing bleeding risk. Targeting factor XI,...
Ibritumomab Tiuxetan Ups Survival in Tough-to-Treat Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Many patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) are cured of the disease after short-course chemotherapy and radiation. Certain adverse risk factors, though, make relapse more likely. Ibritumomab tiuxetan as add-on...
Brentuximab Vedotin Active in Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Lymphoma
For patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are ineligible for transplant or fail to respond to salvage regimens, treatment with brentuximab...
A Zebrafish and Enhanced Imaging Captures How Blood Stem Cells Take Root
A research team from Boston Children Hospital’s Stem Cell Research Program has provided the first direct glimpse into how blood stem cells take root...
FDA Expands Use of Ibrutinib, Fast Track Designation Granted to SGX301, and more
FDA Expands Use of Ibrutinib for Waldenström Macroglobulinemia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the expanded use of ibrutinib to treat Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM),...
ELOQUENT-2, SUSTAIN, and more
LEUKEMIA
Selected by David Steensma, MD
Ruxolitinib and Pracinostat Combination Therapy for Patients With Myelofibrosis (NCT02267278)
Study Design: Open-label, single-group assignment safety/efficacy study
Study Start Date: January 2015
...
The Debate Rages on: Is Omitting Radiation Therapy from Hodgkin Lymphoma Good for Patients?
Although Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is frequently treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, there is a movement towards omitting radiation therapy altogether....
Is It Time to Reconsider Allogeneic SCT in NPM1-Mutant AML?
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) significantly improved rates of relapse-free survival (RFS), but not overall survival (OS) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML)...
Superficial Vein Thromboses Put People at Risk for Subsequent Blood Clots
Until recently, a superficial vein thrombosis (SVT) was seen as a painful induration of limited clinical significance. New evidence from a large population-based study...
February 2015
Treating VTE in Vulnerable Populations: What are the Options?
Over the last 20 years, there have been numerous advances in pharmacologic options for the treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE), including low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs),...
For ASCT in Myeloma, Does One Size Fit All?
Over the last decade, drug development for multiple myeloma has reached an unprecedented pace, and has led to the expansion of regimens that now...
