November 2015
Volume 1, Issue 11
This issue features a look at adapting to scientific meeting climate change and coverage from the 15th International Myeloma Workshop.
Table of Contents
November 2015
Managing GERD/Acid Reflux: The Gastroenterologist’s Perspective
Do you treat many patients for acid reflux/GERD who also have hematologic malignancies or bleeding disorders?
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or acid reflux is a...
Academia or Industry: Choose Your Own Adventure
Every year, at events that cause me to reflect on where I’ve been, and what I have left to accomplish, like the ASH annual...
Cyclothymia and the ASH Annual Meeting
After years of attending the ASH annual meeting, I’ve come to understand my meeting-related emotional cycle well enough to avoid taking it too seriously....
Opening Up the Alternative Medicine Dialogue
The use of alternative, complementary, and integrative treatments among cancer patients is high: In a 2011 study, 65 percent of Americans who had been...
November 2015
Announcing New ASH Executive Committee Members, ASH Visitor Training Program
ASH Executive Committee Election Results Revealed
On October 14, the American Society of Hematology announced the election of three new members to its Executive Committee,...
Remembering Liberto Pechet, Nobel Prize Winners for Study of DNA Repair, and more
Liberto Pechet, MD (1926-2015)
Liberto Pechet, MD, passed away September 16, 2015, after a brief illness. He is remembered as a father, hematologist, educator, researcher, and helper to...
November 2015
Pulling Back the Curtain: James Bradner, MD
What was your first job?
When I was younger, I worked for many years as a landscaper for the U.S. Army. My mother was an...
Adapting to Scientific Meeting Climate Change
Presenting scientific research at a major – or even medium-sized – scientific meeting in 2015 is vastly different than it was even 10 years...
November 2015
For orthopedic surgery, is tranexamic acid standard for pre- and peri-operative anticoagulation?
This month, Anne T. Neff, MD, answers a question about tranexamic acid for pre- and peri-operative anticoagulation.I have seen several orthopedic surgeons give tranexamic...
Sickle Cell Trait and Blood, Organ, and Tissue Donation
People with sickle cell trait can donate blood, organ, and tissues. Yet, fear and commonly held misperceptions keep them from donating to those whose...
November 2015
New Medicare Care Choices Model Seeks to Expand Access to Palliative Care
On July 20, 2015, the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the 141 hospices that have been selected to participate in the new Medicare...
Somatic Mutations are Common in Idiopathic Cytopenias of Undetermined Significance
Establishing a diagnosis in patients with suspected myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is often challenging; the bone marrow must demonstrate dysplasia in ≥10 percent of a myeloid cell...
Combination of Carfilzomib, Pomalidomide, and Dexamethasone Well Tolerated in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Combination therapies for patients with relapsed and/or refractory forms of multiple myeloma (MM) continue to expand with a number of recent drug approvals, including the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib.
In a recent...
Study Finds Link Between Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Coxiella Burnetii Infection
Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii), the bacterium that causes Q fever, is associated with a more than 25-fold increase in the risk of developing diffuse...
Predicting MDS and AML Before it Begins: Targeted Sequencing Identifies Patients at High Risk...
The diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) remains difficult due to the subjective nature of morphologic assessment and the heterogeneity of the disease itself, but a new report published in...
ABIM Releases Assessment of its MOC Program, FDA Approves Drug for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and...
ABIM Releases Assessment of Its Maintenance of Certification Program
The American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Assessment 2020 Task Force has released a report evaluating the organization’s Certification and Maintenance...
Sirolimus Monotherapy Found to Be Safe, Effective in Treating Children with Relapsed/Refractory Autoimmune Cytopenias
Children with multi-lineage autoimmune cytopenias often have chronic disease that is refractory to the few available treatments and require chronic immunosuppression.
Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS)...
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells Induce Sustained Remissions for Minority of CLL Patients
Although chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) remains incurable with conventional therapies, recent studies examining the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells targeting CD19...
Exposure to Ionizing Radiation and Leukemia Risk: Is There a Safe Threshold?
Exposure to high doses of radiation is rare outside of radiation therapy, but repeated or protracted low-dose exposure from occupational and environmental sources has...
Early Discharge Versus Inpatient Care for AML or MDS Patients
For patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), induction therapy often requires patients to remain hospitalized until blood cell count recovery,...
Routine Imaging in Patients with DLBCL in First Complete Remission Does Not Improve Post-Treatment...
B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) do not experience a relapse after first complete remission (CR), and the risk of relapse drops dramatically after five years in...
November 2015
Minimal Residual Disease Status Linked to Survival Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma
Although many patients with multiple myeloma (MM) achieve a complete response (CR) with treatment, the likelihood of relapse is still high, suggesting the presence...
In the Era of Novel Agents, Has Early Mortality in Older Patients Decreased?
While novel agents for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) have improved patient outcomes and extended survival, these agents are also associated with toxicities...
Novel Agent Marizomib Demonstrates Promising Activity in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Marizomib (NPI-0052), a novel proteasome inhibitor, decreased the amount of myeloma protein and was well tolerated in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM), according...
Pooled Analysis Shows Maintenance Therapy Improves Survival in Multiple Myeloma
Though previous studies have indicated prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) with maintenance therapy in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), experts disagree about its effect on...
Autologous Transplant Improves Complete Response, Disease Control in Patients Treated with Carfilzomib-Based Combo
In a phase I/II trial of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM), 55 percent of patients treated with the combination of carfilzomib, lenalidomide,...
