March 2018
Volume 4, Issue 4
This issue features a debate over whether CPX-351 can be used with other therapies in AML, a look at contract research organizations, and more.
Table of Contents
March 2018 Issue
Not What I Signed up For
Last month, while at a mandatory conference at our hospital and idly checking my email, a note from my nurse caught my attention: “Dr....
From the Ivory Tower to Corporate America
When I started in the MD/PhD program at a prestigious university in southern California, I was a 22-year-old straight out of college with few...
March 2018 Issue
MEI Develops Future Leaders, 2018 ASH-AMFDP Scholars Selected, and more
ASH Medical Educators Institute Develops Future Leaders
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) Medical Educators Institute (MEI) develops future leaders in hematology education through...
Mohamad Cherry Joins Atlantic Health System, Remembering Eliezer A. Rachmilewitz, and more
Remembering Eliezer A. Rachmilewitz, MD
Eliezer A. Rachmilewitz, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, died on December...
March 2018 Issue
Demystifying Zebrafish
Despite the vast sequencing data available to study the genetics of human disease, experimental animal models still play a critical role in unraveling the...
Contract Research Organizations: Outsourced Trials, Outsized Problems
A ranking of sorts is sent out every week to the chosen ones, but those who find themselves in the top spots don’t feel...
Teaching Old Drugs New Tricks?
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved CPX-351 (a fixed combination of daunorubicin and cytarabine), it appeared that everything old was new...
Pulling Back the Curtain: Andra James, MD, MPH
In this edition, Andra James, MD, MPH, shares how she became a specialist in hematology, obstetrics/gynecology, and even Civil War history. Dr. James is...
March 2018 Issue
What are the treatment options for a pregnant woman with chronic-phase CML?
This month Ayalew Tefferi, MD, discusses managing a pregnant patient with chronic-phase (CP) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).
And don't forget to check out next month's clinical...
March 2018 Issue
Firstline Eltrombopag Receives Breakthrough Designation for Severe Aplastic Anemia
The FDA granted breakthrough-therapy designation for firstline eltrombopag to treat severe aplastic anemia (SAA).
The thrombopoietin receptor agonist received this designation based on research conducted...
Tax on Medical Devices Resumes After Two Years
In January, the 2.3 percent excise tax for medical devices was resumed, after a two-year hiatus. The tax was originally imposed in 2013 as...
IV Bag Shortage Making Flu Season Worse
Supplies of intravenous (IV) saline and nutrient solutions were already tight before hurricanes hit Puerto Rico in September of last year and cut power...
Mixed Results From SIMPLIFY-1 Complicate Myelofibrosis Treatment Decisions
The Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor ruxolitinib is the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved therapy for myelofibrosis (MF), but the resultant hematologic adverse events...
Combination Brentuximab Vedotin and Bendamustine Safe and Effective for Heavily Pretreated HL
Coupling the anti-CD30 antibody drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin with bendamustine may offer an effective salvage regimen for patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), according...
Long-Term FOLL05-Up: R-CHOP Outperforms R-FM and R-CVP for Advanced-Stage Follicular Lymphoma
In 2005, the FOLL05 trial sought to determine the optimal immunochemotherapy (ICT) regimen for firstline treatment of advanced-stage follicular lymphoma (FL): R-CVP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide,...
Eltrombopag Reduces Thrombocytopenic Events in Patients With AML and MDS, But Not as Much...
Compared with placebo, the oral thrombopoietic receptor agonist eltrombopag significantly lowered the incidence of thrombocytopenic events in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or...
Investigating a WT1 Peptide Vaccine in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia
In an open-label, phase II study, treatment with galinpepimut-S (GPS) – a vaccine targeting the Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) protein – was well tolerated...
Ibrutinib Plus R-ICE Induces Responses in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory DLBCL
A phase I study found that adding ibrutinib to R-ICE (rituximab, ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide) resulted in an overall response rate of 90 percent (range...
Treatment With Blinatumomab Eradicates MRD in Patients with ALL
More than three-quarters of patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) who were in complete remission (CR) following chemotherapy but still had evidence of minimal...
Total Metabolic Tumor Volume Predictive of Survival in Patients With Hodgkin Lymphoma
Factors with prognostic significance in early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) include bulky disease, number of regions involved, advanced age, and the presence of B symptoms....
Monitoring Pre-Malignant Clones May Predict Development of Therapy-Related Myeloid Neoplasms
Post-transplant development of therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (tMNs) originates in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) with tMN mutations that are present years before disease onset, according...
Study Claims Medicaid Changes Could Lead to Hospital Closures
Researchers are cautioning that undoing Medicaid expansions (which occurred under the ACA) may lead to hospital closures. Decreased Medicaid revenue would be to blame,...
Ibrutinib Treatment May Predispose to Fungal Infections, Study Cautions
Although previous research has demonstrated that ibrutinib is associated with fewer infectious complications than standard chemotherapy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a...
Study Confirms Risk of Breast Implant-Associated ALCL
After investigating 359 reports linking silicone and saline breast implants with the development of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), the FDA found that women...
Denosumab Receives FDA Approval for the Prevention of Skeletal-Related Events in Those With MM
The FDA approved the sBLA for the RANK ligand inhibitor denosumab, expanding its indication to include the prevention of skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients...
FDA Grants Priority Review to Brentuximab Vedotin in Combination With AVD for Frontline Treatment...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted priority review to a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for brentuximab vedotin in combination with AVD...
Three Corporate Giants Team Up to Disrupt Health Care
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase announced that they will form an independent health-care company for their employees in the U.S.
The companies said the...
CDC Director Resigns Over Conflicts of Interest
Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resigned from her appointment over financial conflicts of interest involving investments...
FDA Grants Priority Review to CAR T-Cell Therapy for DLBCL
The FDA granted priority review to the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel for adults with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who are...
FDA Approves Firstline Arsenic Trioxide for Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia
The FDA approved arsenic trioxide in combination with the all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) tretinoin for firstline treatment of adults with newly diagnosed, low-risk acute...
