January 2020
Volume 6, Issue 1
This issue features a discussion about value-based care initiatives, coverage of late-breaking abstracts presented at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting, and more.
Table of Contents
January 2020 Issue
Reader Responses: How would you treat an older patient with ulcerative colitis and DVT?
Here’s how readers responded to a You Make the Call question about the duration of anticoagulation in a patient with ulcerative colitis and thrombosis.
Disclaimer: ASH...
Editor’s Corner: 2020 Visions
I have worried about the year 2020 since I was small.
My long-standing unease about 2020 and the trouble it might bring is not because...
January 2020 Issue
You Make the Call: How would you treat an older patient with ulcerative colitis...
This month, Kenneth A. Bauer, MD, discusses the duration of anticoagulation in a patient with ulcerative colitis and thrombosis.
And don't forget to check out...
January 2020 Issue
Pulling Back the Curtain: Jennifer Lycette, MD
In this edition, Jennifer Lycette, MD, talks about her childhood in Alaska and bringing cancer care to rural Oregon.
Tell us about your childhood. Where...
Does Value Mean Doing Less?
Over the past decade, the concept of improving value by avoiding excessive care has taken center stage in discussions about the U.S. health care...
January 2020 Issue
FDA Approves Zanubrutinib for Relapsed/Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
The FDA has granted accelerated approval to zanubrutinib, an inhibitor of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK), to treat adults with mantle cell lymphoma who have...
Crizanlizumab-tmca Becomes First Approved Targeted Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease
The FDA approved crizanlizumab-tmca to reduce the frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis in patients aged 16 and older with sickle cell disease (SCD). The agent...
Gene Editing Therapy Shows Early Benefit for Patients With SCD and Beta Thalassemia
CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals have reported that the first two patients to receive an experimental gene editing treatment for SCD and beta thalassemia...
Remembering Esmail Zanjani, Augustine Perrotta, and more
Remembering Esmail D. Zanjani (1938 – 2019)
Esmail D. Zanjani, PhD, passed away on October 5, 2019. A pioneer in fetal cell and gene therapy,...
Post-Induction CVD Chemotherapy Improves PFS in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Myeloma
For patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) who had a suboptimal response to immunomodulatory drug-based induction therapy, intensification treatment with cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and...
How Does Chemotherapy During Pregnancy Affect Outcomes in Patients With Hodgkin Lymphoma?
In patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) during pregnancy, antenatal chemotherapy is associated with increased preterm contractions and lower birthweight for newborns, according to...
Luspatercept-aamt Approved to Treat Anemia in Beta Thalassemia
The FDA approved luspatercept-aamt for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia who require regular red blood cell (RBC) transfusions.
The approval...
Study Highlights Role of Complement Activation in Antiphospholipid Syndrome
Treatment of patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), a disease characterized by thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity and mortality, is hindered by an incomplete understanding of...
MRD Response Predicts Survival in Blinatumomab-Treated Patients With Relapsed/Refractory ALL
In patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) who are treated with blinatumomab, achieving minimal residual disease (MRD) was associated with improved...
Nancy Berliner Steps in as Editor-in-Chief of Blood, First Industry Datasets Submitted to ASH...
ASH Teams Up With Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to Connect Patients to Clinical Trials
A collaboration between the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and The...
January 2020 Issue
Daratumumab, Carfilzomib, and Dexamethasone Combination Improves PFS in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Adding daratumumab to a combination of carfilzomib and dexamethasone (KdD) led to a 37% improvement in progression-free survival (PFS), compared with carfilzomib and dexamethasone...
QUAZAR: Oral Azacitidine Maintenance Improves Survival in Transplant-Ineligible AML
According to research presented as a late-breaking abstract at the 2019 ASH Annual Meeting, treatment with CC-486, an oral formulation of the hypomethylating agent...
Is Blinatumomab a New Standard of Care for Young Patients With B-Cell ALL?
Compared with standard chemotherapy, blinatumomab as consolidation prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is associated with fewer severe toxicities, higher response rates, and longer...
