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News and Treatment Updates

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Here's where you'll find a regularly updated, broad range of articles written by the AAMDSIF team, allied health organizations and news organizations. By staying well-informed, patients and families are practicing a form of self-support that will help them be more effective self-advocates when engaging with health care providers.

Exercise Treatment as Part of Multidisciplinary Whole Person Care in Oncology

Originally Published: 08/21/2024
Several national agencies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), recommend the prescription of exercise for patients diagnosed with cancer.1,2 The evidence base for this recommendation is derived from studies that showed exercise-related improvements in patient-reported outcomes (PROs), treatment-associated adverse effects, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and overall physical functioning.3-6 Additionally, exercise may have direct anticancer effects and indirect effects by synergizing standard cancer therapies.7,8 Despite these benefits, the implementation of exercise...

Navigating a Paradigm Shift Venetoclax Treatment Redefines Landscape of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Originally Published: 08/19/2024
Abstract Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by the accumulation of malignant myeloid progenitor hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. Recent studies have shown promising results with the use of small molecule inhibitors and targeted therapy in the treatment of patients with AML. One such molecule is venetoclax, which has been approved in AML by the FDA in combination with hypomethylating agents or low-dose cytarabine. We thoroughly searched electronic literature related to venetoclax and its role in AML, using databases such as...

Safe, Successful Pregnancies Possible After AlloHCT

Originally Published: 07/15/2024
Findings refute former consensus that pregnancies post-transplant are nearly impossible, highlight need for increased fertility counseling   (WASHINGTON, July 15, 2024) — Despite treatment-related fertility challenges, female patients can become pregnant and give birth to healthy children after undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT), according to a study published in Blood. During alloHCT, stem cells from a healthy donor are transplanted to individuals with hematologic cancers or benign hematologic disorders such as leukemia and sickle cell disease. Procedural...

Adenovirus infections after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in children and adults: a study from the Infectious Diseases Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Originally Published: 07/10/2024
Abstract The objective of the study was the analysis of clinical types, outcomes, and risk factors associated with the outcome of adenovirus (ADV) infection, in children and adults after allo-HCT. A total number of 2529 patients (43.9% children; 56.1% adults) transplanted between 2000 and 2022 reported to the EBMT database with diagnosis of ADV infection were analyzed. ADV infection manifested mainly as viremia (62.6%) or gastrointestinal infection (17.9%). The risk of 1-year mortality was higher in adults (p = 0.0001), and in patients with ADV infection developing before day +100 (p < 0....

NMDP and CIBMTR share new, promising stem cell transplantation trial data using mismatched, unrelated donors at the 2024 EHA Congress

Originally Published: 06/14/2024
MINNEAPOLIS, June 14, 2024 — NMDPSM, a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, and the CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®) announced interim results from the ACCESS trial as an oral abstract during the European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Meeting in Madrid, Spain. The study demonstrated that adults with hematologic malignancies who received peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant from HLA-mismatched unrelated donors (MMUD) followed by post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) prophylaxis exhibited a 79% overall...

FDA approves imetelstat for low- to intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes with transfusion-dependent anemia

Originally Published: 06/06/2024
On June 6, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration approved imetelstat (Rytelo, Geron Corporation), an oligonucleotide telomerase inhibitor, for adults with low- to intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with transfusion-dependent anemia requiring four or more red blood cell units over 8 weeks who have not responded to or have lost response to or are ineligible for erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs). Full prescribing information for Rytelo will be posted here. Efficacy was evaluated in IMerge (NCT02598661), a randomized (2:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter...

Blood and guts: how the intestinal microbiome shapes hematopoiesis and treatment of hematologic disease

Originally Published: 04/25/2024
Abstract Over the past 10 years, there has been a marked increase in recognition of the interplay between the intestinal microbiome and the hematopoietic system. Despite their apparent distance in the body, a large literature now supports the relevance of the normal intestinal microbiota to steady-state blood production, affecting both hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells as well as differentiated immune cells. Microbial metabolites enter the circulation where they can trigger cytokine signaling that influences hematopoiesis. Furthermore, the state of the microbiome is now recognized to...

Trends in Volumes and Survival After Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Originally Published: 04/25/2024
Key Points The number of autoHCT and alloHCT grew faster in Non-Hispanic African Americans and Hispanics compared to Non-Hispanic Whites. Survival after autoHCT and alloHCT improved over time for all racial/ ethnic groups, though African Americans have worse outcomes. There has been an increase in volume as well as improvement in overall survival (OS) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for hematologic disorders. It is unknown if these changes have impacted racial/ethnic minorities equally. In this observational study from Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant...

Alternative donor transplantation for severe aplastic anemia: a comparative study of the SAAWP EBMT

Originally Published: 04/21/2024
Key Points SCT from MUD offers superior survival outcomes for severe aplastic anemia compared to both MMUD and Haplo. The decision between a MMUD or Haplo donor in the absence of an available MUD remains uncertain. Selecting the most suitable alternative donor becomes challenging in severe aplastic anemia (SAA) when a matched sibling donor (MSD) is unavailable. We compared outcomes in SAA patients undergoing SCT from matched unrelated donors (MUD, n=1106), mismatched unrelated donors (MMUD, n=340), and haploidentical donors (Haplo, n=206) registered in the EBMT database (2012-2021). For...

Comparison of Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation with Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide versus Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation in Adult Patients with Aplastic Anemia

Originally Published: 09/18/2023
Highlights Haploidentical stem cell transplantation with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy-haplo) and umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) achieved similar overall survival in adult patients with aplastic anemia. The rate of neutrophil engraftment was higher in the PTCy-haplo group than in the UCBT group. The cumulative incidence of grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease was similar in the 2 groups. Failure-free survival in patients age <40 years was higher in the PTCy-haplo group. ABSTRACT Aplastic anemia patients who are refractory to immunosuppressive therapy or...