January 2016
Volume 2, Issue 1
This issue features full coverage of the 2015 ASH Annual Meeting and a look at how hematology is going mobile.
Table of Contents
January 2016
Crippling Clinical Research?
I commend Dr. Sekeres for his excellent editorial (Take My Leftover Tissue, Please!), which appeared in the December 2015 issue of ASH Clinical News....
U.S. Medicine Prices: Watching from Europe with Trembling Knees
Working at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (then the Sidney Farber) in the Division of Tumor Immunology led by Stuart Schlossman, MD, in the early...
Replenishing the Ranks: We Need Some New Hematologists …
One of my attendings once mourned that we – non-neoplastic hematologists, that is – were the dinosaurs in the last days before the asteroid...
How Does Your Practice Work? Three Easy Steps to an Effective Practice
In previous “Advanced Practice Perspective” columns, we’ve discussed the duties of advanced practice practitioners (APPs), including all of the various patient, research, and administrative...
January 2016
Remembering Dorothea Zucker Franklin, Samuel J. Heyman Award Winners, and more
Dorothea Zucker-Franklin, MD (1929-2015)
Dorothea Zucker-Franklin, MD, passed away on November 24, 2015, at the age of 86.
Dr. Zucker-Franklin was a highly respected hematologist and...
Bylaws Amendments Expand Role of International Members in Society’s Governance
On December 8, 2015, ASH Active members in good standing passed two bylaws amendments during a historic in-person vote at the 57th ASH Annual...
January 2016
Hematology on the Move: How Are Mobile Health Apps Helping Patients?
To say that health-related mobile apps are trending would be an understatement. Google the term “health-care apps” and more than 71 million results come...
Pulling Back the Curtain: Bob Löwenberg, MD, PhD
What was your first job?
When I was a medical student, I took a job as a tour guide leading groups around Europe. My very...
Zen and the Art of Single-Scull Rowing: Neal S. Young, MD
When did you become interested in rowing?
I grew up in New York City and, because I was much younger than my classmates, I didn’t...
January 2016
Is close observation alone an appropriate treatment course for an indolent presentation of mantle...
This month, Mitchell Smith, MD, answers a question about the treatment course for an indolent presentation of mantle cell lymphoma.A 57-year-old woman with a...
January 2016
Encouraging Results from a First-in-Human Trial of ACE910 to Treat Severe Hemophilia A
While patients with severe hemophilia A have a higher risk of bleeding complications than patients with moderate or mild hemophilia A, an investigational bispecific...
Sorafenib Plus Standard Chemotherapy Associated with Improved Event-Free Survival in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, But...
Adding the multi-kinase inhibitor sorafenib to standard chemotherapy increased event-free survival (EFS) among patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to results...
FDA Calls for Closer Monitoring of Medical Laboratory Testing
In a recent report issued by the U.S. FDA, the agency detailed a need for more authority to regulate medical laboratory testing. The report...
Medicare Releases Final Rules on Physician and Outpatient Hospital Payment for 2016
CMS announced final rules for physician and outpatient hospital payments, which will go into effect on January 1, 2016. Payment rules for the 2016...
Medicare Proposes Coverage of Hematopoietic Cell Transplant for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease, Myelofibrosis,...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its new proposed coverage policy for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) among Medicare patients. The proposal...
FDA Approves Modified Antihemophilic Factor for the Treatment of Hemophilia A
The U.S. FDA approved antihemophilic factor (recombinant), PEGylated for use in patients 12 years old or older with hemophilia A. The new drug is...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Daratumumab for Multiple Myeloma
The U.S. FDA granted accelerated approval to daratumumab injection for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who have failed at least three prior lines of...
Researchers Develop Novel Assay to Predict Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia
A novel PF4-dependent p-selectin expression assay (PEA) has proven effective in detecting platelet-activating heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (HIT) antibodies, according to research presented at...
AMA Seeks to Ban Direct-to-Consumer Advertising
Concerned that a growing number of prescription drug and medical device ads may be driving demand for expensive treatments despite the ability of as-effective...
Carfilzomib Combination for Salvage Therapy in Multiple Myeloma: Results from a Real-World Setting
Despite the recent approval of several new drugs in multiple myeloma (MM), including proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory agents, the treatment of patients with relapsed...
Meta-Analysis of Maintenance Therapy in Multiple Myeloma: Time to Rethink Immunomodulatory-Based Maintenance Therapy?
Maintenance therapy with immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs; including thalidomide, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide) and the proteasome inhibitors bortezomib and carfilzomib has been shown to increase event-free...
Hormonal Therapy Does Not Increase VTE Risk in Women on Anticoagulant Therapy
Women taking estrogen-containing contraception or hormone replacement therapy while receiving therapeutic anticoagulation were not at an increased risk for recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), according...
Panobinostat, Dexamethasone, Bortezomib Combo Effective in Heavily Pretreated MM Patients
The addition of panobinostat to bortezomib and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival (PFS) and duration of response compared with bortezomib and dexamethasone alone in patients...
The BRAF Inhibitor Vemurafenib “Highly Effective” in Relapsed/Refractory Hairy-Cell Leukemia
The oral BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib produced high overall response rates, with mild toxicity, in patients with relapsed or refractory hairy-cell leukemia, according to a...
Rise of the Clones: Assessing Molecular Response to Induction Chemotherapy in AML
Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have achieved morphologic remission after induction chemotherapy often continue to exhibit clonal hematopoiesis – of a clonal...
The Fresher, the Better? How Does Age of Transfused Red Blood Cells Affect Patient...
A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials examining the effect of the age of transfused red blood cells (RBCs) on patient outcomes revealed that, when...
January 2016
Lentiviral Gene Therapy: A Major Win for Patients With Beta-Thalassemia Major?
Lentiviral vector gene therapy via autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) reduced transfusion needs and even led to transfusion independence in patients with β-thalassemia major, according...
Luspatercept Leads to Increased Hemoglobin Levels, Transfusion Independence in MDS Patients
Treatment with luspatercept, an investigational fusion protein for the treatment of anemias with ineffective red blood cell (RBC) production, was associated with increased hemoglobin...
The End of an Era: Does Transplant Still Have a Role in Multiple Myeloma...
With the rapid pace of drug discovery in multiple myeloma (MM), the role of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) has been called into question...
Adding Idelalisib to Treatment Regimen Lengthens Survival in Relapsed/Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
The triplet combination of idelalisib, bendamustine, and rituximab (BR) improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) compared with BR alone in patients with...
For FLT3-Mutated AML Patients, Midostaurin Added to Chemotherapy Improved Survival
Patients with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have poor prognosis, a high chance of relapse, and a limited number of treatment options. Research presented...
Promising Results from a First-in-Man Study of CAR T Cells in Myeloma
Therapeutic options for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have undergone a rapid expansion recently, with three new drug approvals by the U.S. FDA in...
Are Clinical Trial Exclusion Criteria Too Strict?
New research suggests that eligibility criteria for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in hematologic malignancies might be too strict, limiting their applicability to real-world clinical...
Ibrutinib Outperforms Temsirolimus in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
Both ibrutinib and temsirolimus are effective in patients with previously treated mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). A recent randomized, head-to-head, phase III study showed that...
Anticoagulation in Patients with Cancer- Associated Venous Thromboembolic Disease: Improving the Quality of Care...
Two studies presented at this year’s ASH annual meeting supported reducing the dose of enoxaparin in patients with chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (CIT) and established the...
