Refinements in the classification and risk stratification for leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes were reported by three different investigators at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting. The first study showed that leukemia stem cell phenotypes are associated with outcomes in acute myeloid leukemia...
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of this year’s American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, highlighting therapeutics in acute leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes. For full details of these study abstracts, visit...
Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, discusses an additional analysis of a phase II study of azacitidine combined with lenalidomide or with vorinostat vs azacitidine monotherapy in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (Abstract 908).
In a prospective observational cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Efficace et al found that a self-reported fatigue score provides independent prognostic information on overall survival in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Fatigue assessment should be included in...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Petersdorf et al found a greater risk of acute graft-vs-host disease among hematopoietic cell transplant recipients with the high-expression rs9277534G allele linked to mismatched HLA-DPB1 who received transplants from donors with the...
A phase II study investigating the potential of the drugs azacitidine and lenalidomide (Revlimid) demonstrated that the two therapies in combination may be an effective frontline treatment regimen for patients with higher-risk forms of myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The...
It is unclear whether somatic mutations that are strongly associated with phenotype and prognosis in myelodysplastic syndrome are also predictive of outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bejar et al found that...
Past exposure to immunosuppressive drugs called thiopurines has been found to increase the risk of myeloid disorders, such as acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The findings were reported by Lopez et al in Clinical...
In the phase II US Leukemia Intergroup Trial E1905 reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Prebet et al found that prolonged administration of lower-dose azacitidine produced a high response rate in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with myelodysplastic...
Exposure to ionizing radiation has been associated with increased risk of myelodysplastic syndrome, and it remains unclear whether radiation doses used in prostate cancer treatment result in increased risk. In a retrospective cohort study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,...
A retrospective analysis of 380 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) registered in the Gruppo Romano Mielodisplasie Italian Regional database, which included data from 13 hematology centers in the Rome area, has found that the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) is...
Scientists have successfully targeted a malfunctioning immune system enzyme to kill diseased cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a precursor to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Reporting their results in Cancer Cell, researchers say their successful laboratory tests in human MDS...
A new study by an international team of scientists provides the first statistically based guidelines for determining whether a stem cell transplant is appropriate for older patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the most common blood disorders in people over 60 years of age, and frequently...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have completed a phase II clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of dasatinib (Sprycel) for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or acute myeloid leukemia resulting from MDS and have failed ...