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November
3, 2003 |
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Top
Stories |
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Legislation and Regulation |
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Clinical
Research |
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Pharmaceutical
News |
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Association
News |
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Calendar |
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eNews
Archives |
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Tandem BMT Meetings
Feb 13 - 17, 2004
Orlando, Florida
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(Note: Answers to this interactive poll are anonymous.) |
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Last Month's
Poll Results
Faced with the same challenges as the Society’s
founders 10 years ago, which of the following priorities
would you put in first place for the coming 10 years?
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Promotion of collaborative research |
(245) 41% |
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Further
elevation of the national meeting |
(96) 16% |
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Regulatory and third-party payer issues |
(149) 25% |
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Enhancement and expansion of the journal |
(106) 18% |
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Calendar |
• November
American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG)
53rd Annual Meeting
Nov. 4-8
Los Angeles Convention Center
Los Angeles, California
National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
16th Annual Council Meeting
Nov. 14-16
Hilton Minneapolis Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota
European Society for Gene Therapy (ESGT)
11th Annual Meeting
Nov. 14-17
Edinburgh International Conference Centre
Edinburgh, Scotland
• December
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
45th Annual Meeting
Dec. 6-9
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
43rd Annual Meeting
Dec. 13-17
Moscone Convention Center
San Francisco, California
2004
• January
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
8th Annual Winter Symposium
Jan. 15-18
Westin Kierland Resort
Scottsdale, Arizona
• February
6th International Congress on New Trends in Immunosuppression
Feb. 5-8
Salzburg Congress Centre
Salzburg, Austria
2004 Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and IBMTR/ABMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 13-17
Coronado Springs Resort
Orlando, Florida
• March
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
95th Annual Meeting
March 27-31
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida
European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
30th Annual Meeting
March 28 - 31
Palau de Congressos de Catalunya
Barcelona, Spain
• April
American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPH/O)
17th Annual Scientific Meeting
April 29-May 2
Westin St. Francis Hotel
San Francisco, California
• May
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
10th Annual Meeting
May 7-10
Dublin, Ireland
World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA)
5th International Donor Registry Conference
May 26-29
Keio University Mita Campus
Tokyo, Japan
• July
Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies
4th Annual Conference
July 18-23
Montreal, Quebec
International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH)
33rd Annual Scientific Meeting
July 17-20
New Orleans, Louisiana
• October
American Society for Histocompatibility and
Immunogenetics (ASHI)
30th Annual Meeting
Oct. 1-6
San Antonio Convention Center
San Antonio, Texas
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
57th Annual Meeting
Oct. 23-26
Baltimore, Maryland
2005
2005 Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and IBMTR/ABMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 10-14
Keystone Resort
Keystone, Colorado
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Top
Stories |
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3D tissues can be
grown from human embryonic stem cells
Human embryonic stem cells can be directed to grow into 3D
tissues using biodegradable polymer scaffolds, according to
research published in the Oct. 28 issue of the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences. Using growth factors,
researchers induced differentiation into structures with
characteristics of developing neural tissues, cartilage and
liver; these tissues appear to retain their function when
implanted in mice.
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Embryonic stem cell research pioneers expect
clinical trials to begin within five years
Clinical trials involving embryonic stem cells will start
within five years, predict James Thomson of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and John Gearhart of Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore. At a media briefing at the National Press Club,
they said political opposition and limited federal funding have
delayed efforts.
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Adult stem cells may not prove as effective
as embryonic stem cells
To test the effectiveness of adult stem cells, researchers
modified bone marrow stem cells in mice to produce easily
detected proteins, then injected the cells into other mice.
Instead of turning into other cell types, these stem cells fused
with them. While this finding may offer new therapeutic uses for
adult stem cells, they seem to be ineffective in regenerating
and replacing damaged tissues.
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Gene therapy caused cancer in two French
boys
Experimental gene therapy treatment used to cure two French
boys suffering from x-linked severe combined immunodeficiency
triggered a gene causing overproduction of T cells, giving them
leukemia. Doctors used a virus to carry a therapeutic copy of
the defective gene, and the virus improperly activated the gene
for childhood leukemia. Both boys have been successfully treated
with chemotherapy.
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Minority children less likely to survive leukemia treatment
Black children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are
significantly more likely than white children to have
higher-risk prognostic features and less likely to have
hyperdiploid blast cells, but their five-year event-free and
overall survival rates are not significantly different,
according to a study published in the Oct. 15 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association. A second study
in the same issue found that while five-year survival rates have
improved over the years, Asian/Pacific Islander, black, American
Indian/Alaskan Native and Hispanic children have lower survival
rates than white children.
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Word from President Joseph Antin, M.D.
It is generally held here in Boston that the End of
the World will be heralded by the Red Sox winning the
World Series. Because we no longer have to worry about
Armageddon in that incarnation, it is safe for us to
contemplate the future of medical research as charted in
the new NIH Roadmap. If you aren’t familiar with the plan
that was introduced by the National Institutes of Health
this past month, the
details are online.
The Roadmap has 28 initiatives but in essence focuses on
three areas for the future of biomedical research:
• New technologies for studying and understanding how
diseases work on a molecular level
• New processes for studying drugs in clinical trials,
especially in high-risk but potentially high-return
research and unexplored areas
• Better cooperation among research teams in academic
centers and community-based practices
If indeed this is a more effective plan than other recent
government attempts at roadmaps, members of our Society
and our patients may be well-positioned to benefit from
the announced repositioning of NIH resources. Several
aspects of the Roadmap seem almost written with stem cell
transplantation in mind.
Our academic centers are poorly equipped to train fellows
and junior faculty in clinical research. Most of the time,
the training of a clinical scientist is an arduous task
with little formal structure, a great deal of mentoring,
and substantial amounts of trial and error. Recognition of
research achievements in clinical medicine requires
patience and a long timeline that tends to discourage many
junior people, who may be reluctant to adopt a career path
that doesn’t bear fruit for years. A Multidisciplinary
Clinical Research Workforce Training Program is proposed
to prepare pre- and post-doctoral candidates for clinical
investigations. Well-trained clinical investigators will
be increasingly important because clinical investigations
are certain to become increasingly complex. The hope is
that with adequate funding and a curriculum guideline in
place, the NIH can lead us to a new generation of
high-quality training programs and a surge of highly
productive clinical scientists. It sounds great. We’ll
need to see what transpires.
Another proposal that is likely to bear short-term fruit
is an emphasis on clinical research networks. I know of
one exemplary model: the
BMT Clinical Trails Network that puts our field in the
vanguard of that initiative.
One thing that isn’t in doubt: It will be essential for
members of our field and our Society to take leadership
roles as the NIH begins to follow its new Roadmap.
– Joe |
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Legislation and Regulation |
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Canada passes bill regulating stem cell research
Canada’s House of Commons has approved legislation that
would permit research using embryonic stem cells but bans human
cloning. The bill also bans payment to sperm and egg donors and
would prohibit the creation of embryos solely for science.
However, final passage of the bill is uncertain.
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Clinical
Research |
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Scientists identify source of bone marrow stem cells
Two studies on genetically engineered mice have uncovered
the niche, or biological environment, where bone marrow stem
cells reside. These scientists used different techniques to
increase the number of osteoblasts that make up the niche areas,
more than doubling the number of stem cells produced. The
results of these studies are published in the Oct. 23 issue of
the journal Nature.
Growth of inner ear hair cells from embryonic stem cells may
provide treatment for hearing loss
By encouraging embryonic stem cells from mice to
differentiate into hair cells, then transplanting them into the
ears of chicken embryos, scientists have found a way to
regenerate hair cells in the inner ear, according to a study
published in the October issue of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. Once in the chicken embryos,
these cells expressed genes and proteins of adult hair cells and
grew as existing hair cells would.
Stem cells can help regenerate damaged nerves
Stem cells can be used to regenerate damaged nerve fibers,
according to a study presented at the 127th annual meeting of
the American Neurological Association. A study in rats, using
stem cells from mice, showed that stem cells supply key
nutritive molecules and protect against harmful ones, allowing
nerves to regenerate as long as six months after the injury.
Adult blood stem cells show promise in treating heart disease
Adult human blood peripheral stem cells will differentiate
into cardiomyocytes, mature endothelial cells and smooth muscle
cells in vivo, according to a study published in the October
issue of the journal Circulation. Research in mice, using adult
peripheral blood CD34+ cells injected into the tail vein, showed
all three types of cells in the infarct and peri-infarct regions
of mice hearts two months later.
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Pharmaceutical
News |
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Miltenyi Biotech signs agreement to market Baxter Healthcare
products
Miltenyi Biotech GmbH and Baxter Healthcare Corp. have
signed an agreement giving Miltenyi Biotech exclusive rights to
distribute, market and sell Baxter’s cellular therapy products
worldwide – with the exception of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan
– for the next five years. Products included in the agreement
are the Isolex 300i Magnetic Cell Selection System v2.5 and the
Cytomate Cell Processing System, as well as preservation and
expansion bags used for cytopreservation and cell cultures and
biologic reagents.
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Association
News |
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Major national health plans using ASBMT standardized RFI
Many of the largest national health plans are using the
ASBMT standardized Request for Information (RFI) forms that were
introduced in January this year.
New investigator awards deadline is Dec. 1
Two new investigator awards – one supported by ESP Pharma
and the other by Fujisawa Healthcare – have a Dec. 1 deadline.
Young clinical and laboratory investigators in the field of
blood and marrow transplantation are encouraged to apply.
Position statement on BMT for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
An ASBMT Position Statement on the role of cytotoxic therapy
with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of
diffuse large cell B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma appears in the
October issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.
The statement is based on a recently published evidence-based
review.
When marrow fails
Two of the major causes of deadly marrow failure – aplastic
anemia and myelodysplastic syndromes – are addressed in the
current issue of Blood and Marrow Transplantation Reviews.
The presentation, based on a symposium at the 2003 Tandem BMT
Meetings, provides insights into the pathobiology of the
diseases and new treatment options emerging from recent clinical
trials.
Free ASBMT membership for trainees
Post-doctoral fellows and physicians-in-training for blood
and marrow transplantation are eligible for free ASBMT
membership in 2004. The recruitment program has increased
in-training enrollments in the Society from 26 to 120 in the
past three months.
Strong pre-registration for 2004 Tandem BMT Meetings
Early registration for the 2004 Tandem BMT Meetings is
outpacing the attendance record set at this year’s meetings.
Abstract submissions for the Feb. 13-17 sessions in Orlando are
up 13 percent and are 77 percent ahead of the most recent
Orlando meeting in 2002. Online registration, housing
reservations and general information can be found on the ASBMT
Web site.
Guidelines for HLA matching of unrelated donors
Guidelines for HLA matching of unrelated hematopoietic cell
donors have been issued by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
and appear in the October issue of Biology of Blood and
Marrow Transplantation. The guidelines are presented in the
format of answers to frequently asked questions. BBMT Vol. 9,
No. 10, pages 610-615.
FOCIS conference headed to Montreal in July
The 4th annual conference of the Federation of Clinical
Immunology Societies will convene July 18-23 in Montreal,
Quebec. ASBMT is a member of the federation. The abstract
deadline is Jan. 24.
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