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December 1, 2004 |
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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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Job &
Fellowship Connections |
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Monthly Journal |
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eNews
Archives |
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Tandem BMT Meetings
Feb 10 - 14, 2005
Keystone, Colorado |
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Last Month's Poll Results
ASBMT eNews readers were asked their opinion on the likelihood of a
nuclear terrorist attack in North America in the next 10 years. Among
those responding: |
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9% said “not likely” |
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45% said “possible” |
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9% gave “even odds” |
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36% said “quite
probable” |
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0% said “almost a
certainty” |
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Calendar |
• December
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
46th Annual Meeting
Dec. 4-7
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
44th Annual Meeting
Dec. 4-8
Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
2005
• January
Stem Cell Transplantation in Children: Current Results
and Controversies
Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Jan. 20-22
DoubleTree La Posada
Scottsdale, Arizona
• February
FDA and the New Paradigm for Tissue Regulation
Phama Conference and the University of Rhode Island College of
Pharmacy,
with the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
Feb. 1-3
Hyatt Regency Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 10-14
Keystone Conference Center
Keystone, Colorado
• March
Inaugural Joint American-Israeli Conference on Cancer
University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
March 16-18
Inbal Jerusalem Hotel
Jerusalem, Israel
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
and Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST)
9th Annual Winter Symposium
March 16-20
Fairmont Banff Springs
Banff, Alberta
Eighth Cooley’s Anemia
Symposium
New York Academy of Sciences and Cooley’s Anemia Foundation
March 17-19
Hilton at Walt Disney World Resort
Orlando, Florida
European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
31st Annual Meeting
March 20–23
Prague Congress Centre
Prague, Czech Republic
• April
10th International Myeloma Workshop
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
April 10-14
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
Sydney, Australia
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
96th Annual Meeting
April 16-20
Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, California
American Society for Apheresis
26th Annual Meeting
April 27-30
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
• May
Current Good Tissue Practice
Workshop preceding annual meeting of the International Society
for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
May 3-4
Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Center
Vancouver, British Columbia
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
11th Annual Meeting
May 4-7
Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Center
Vancouver, British Columbia
Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS)
5th Annual Conference
May 12-16
Boston, Massachusetts
American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPH/O)
18th Annual Meeting
May 14-16
Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel
Washington, D.C.
American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
41st Annual Meeting
May 14-17
Orlando, Florida
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
American Transplant Congress
May 20-25
Seattle, Washington
• June
3rd Annual International Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant
Symposium
California Blood Bank Society (CBBS), with the National Marrow
Donor Program (NMDP)
June 3-4
Hilton Los Angeles Airport
Los Angeles, California
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
3rd Annual Meeting
June 23-25
San Francisco Marriott
San Francisco, California
• July
Pan-Pacific Lymphoma Conference
University of Nebraska Medical Center
July 11-15
Hyatt Regency Kauai
Poipu, Hawaii
Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation
(AA&MDSIF)
Patient & Family Conference
July 28-30
Denver Airport Marriott
Aurora, Colorado
International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH)
34th Annual Scientific Meeting
July 30-Aug. 2
Glasgow, Scotland
2006
Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 15-19
Hawaii Convention Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
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Top
Stories |
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United Nations rejects U.S. bid to ban cloning of human embryos
A General Assembly committee of the United Nations rejected
a U.S.-led campaign to ban all cloning of human embryos,
including for stem cell research. The committee settled on a
nonbinding declaration against human cloning to avoid dividing
the international community on this issue.
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Umbilical cord blood viable treatment for
leukemia patients
Umbilical cord blood stem cells are a viable and effective
transplant source for leukemia patients, according to a study
published in the Nov. 25 issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine. In the absence of a matched adult bone marrow
donor, mismatched cord blood can prove an acceptable source of
hematopoietic stem cell grafts.
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Swiss voters pass law allowing embryonic
stem cell research
Voters in Switzerland have passed a law -- with 66 percent
of the vote -- allowing human embryonic stem cell research,
starting in March 2005. The law, which only allows the use of
embryonic stem cells left over from in vitro fertilization
attempts, strictly prohibits human cloning or the creation of
embryos for stem-cell research.
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Australian company offering embryonic stem cell line
Stem Cell Sciences Ltd. In Melbourne, Australia, has
developed an embryonic stem cell line and plans to make it
freely available to researchers around the world. The line will
be available to academics and companies and can be grown in the
laboratory indefinitely or frozen for storage or distribution to
other researchers.
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Word from President Armand Keating, M.D.
I find that in a
really good lecture presentation, the most instructive
part can be the Q & A.
For 20 to 30 minutes I
get to hear what’s on the lecturer’s mind. Then it’s the
audience turn to tell what they know, as well as what else
they'd like to know.
A great Q & A occurred a
few weeks ago at a conference on transplant contracting
and reimbursement. The presentation was on FACT
accreditation. Most of you know well that FACT stands for
Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy.
Created several years ago, FACT has been one of our great
success stories, providing voluntary accreditation for all
phases of hematopoietic progenitor stem cell collection,
processing and clinical care.
Attaining FACT
accreditation is no small feat for a transplant center.
Because the standards are high, it really means something
to earn the recognition.
The conference presenter
gave an insightful first-hand account of what it’s like to
pass through a FACT application, review and inspection. He
finished his last slide, and audience hands started going
up with some intriguing questions. Ten of them in all.
Here’s what they asked.
(See how close you can come to the correct response before
clicking on "Answer.")
1. What percentage of BMT
centers are FACT accredited?
Answer
2. Is an accredited
center required to report treatment outcomes to a
registry?
Answer
3. Are centers required
to submit any reports during the three-year interval
between on-site inspections?
Answer
4. What's the
minimum number of transplants per year that a center must
perform to be eligible for FACT accreditation?
Answer
5. Can a center
combine adult and pediatric transplants to meet the volume
threshold to qualify for FACT accreditation?
Answer
6. If a BMT
center has multiple locations -- for example, a location
for adult transplants and a separate location for
pediatric transplants -- are these accredited separately
with separate inspections?
Answer
7. How does
FACT achieve consistency among its inspection teams?
Answer
8. What is the
impact on accreditation if there is a change in medical
directors or other significant medical personnel changes?
Answer
9. How do FACT
standards evolve? Are they upgraded from time to time to
respond to changes in clinical practice? How frequently?
Answer
10. Are there
BMT programs that have passed through the third-year
re-inspection?
Answer
There’s a lot
to learn about FACT. The place to start is its Web site at
www.factwebsite.org
or you can contact the FACT Accreditation Office at (402)
559-1950.
There also is a
daylong workshop on FACT accreditation just prior to the
Tandem BMT Meetings each year. The upcoming session will
be on Feb. 9 at Keystone.
If someone will
now please turn up the lights, I’m ready to take your
questions.
- Cheers, Armand
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Legislation and Regulation |
FDA issues ‘Good Tissue Practice’ rules
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has published the new
final rules on “Good Tissue Practice,” the last of three sets of
regulations to be finalized as part of the agency’s plan for
safe management of human cells and tissues. The rules address
methods, facilities and controls used to manufacture human
tissue and cellular products.
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Clinical
Research |
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Umbilical cord blood stem cells cure paralysis in Korean
patient
Using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood, Korean
researchers repaired the damaged spine of a woman who had been
paralyzed for 20 years. Scientists used cord blood stem cells,
which trigger little immune response in the recipient, from
Histostem, a government-backed umbilical cord blood bank in
Seoul.
Scientists find chemical receptor that may cause breast
cancer to spread
Increased levels of a cell chemical receptor called CXCR4
play an important role in the spread of hereditary breast
cancer, according to a report in the November 2004 issue of the
journal Cancer Cell. Researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center discovered that levels of this receptor were much higher
in HER2-positive cancer cells, and coexpression of these two
receptors occurs in about 22 percent of human breast tumors.
Adult stem cells reaped from biopsied heart tissue
A technique is now available to extract adult stem cells
from a small amount of biopsied heart tissue, say researchers
with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Scientists used a small probe inserted through a vein in the
neck to remove tissue from 23 patients, then grew cardiospheres
in lab dishes.
Stomach cancer may originate from bone marrow cells
Stomach cancer may originate from bone marrow cells,
according to research in mice published in the Nov. 26 issue of
Science. Scientists irradiated the mice to kill their
bone marrow, then transplanted bone marrow that contained
markers. The bone marrow cells traveled to the stomach in
response to inflammation caused by infection with
Helicobacter pylori, then became damaged themselves.
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Pharmaceutical News |
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Drug approved to treat non-small cell lung cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Tarceva (erlotinib)
tablets to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic
non-small cell lung cancer, whose cancer has continued to
progress despite other treatments. The drug, developed by OSI
Pharmaceuticals and Genentech Inc., received “fast track” status
from the FDA in May 2002.
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Association
News |
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Bruce Blazar to present Thomas Lecture at Tandem BMT Meetings
A leader in the identification of immune mechanisms for GvHD
generation and bone marrow graft rejection will present the
annual E. Donnall Thomas Lecture at the 2005 Tandem BMT
Meetings. Bruce Blazar, M.D., will speak on “Tracking and
Manipulating T-Cell Alloresponses” on Saturday, Feb. 12. A professor in the
department of pediatrics and associate director of the Division
of Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the University of
Minnesota, he has developed biological and pharmacological
strategies to block alloresponses and facilitate immune recovery
post-transplantation that are being translated into clinical
care. Registration and housing information for the Feb. 10-14
Tandem BMT Meetings in Keystone, Colo., are online.
Special session for trainees at Tandem BMT Meetings
A workshop for physicians-in-training and post-doctoral fellows
in blood and marrow transplantation will be held on the first
day of the 2005 Tandem BMT Meetings in Keystone, Colo. The first
part of the workshop will be a “user’s guide” for trainees
attending the meetings for the first time. Recommendations will
be offered on which sessions to attend, how to participate and
what to take away from the sessions. The workshop also will
include small-group discussions with senior transplanters on
career opportunities and alternatives. The session is scheduled
for 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 10.
BBMT features review on graft-versus-host disease
This month’s issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation presents a review of graft-versus-host
disease. Marcel Devetten, M.D., and Julie Vose, M.D., of the
University of Nebraska review each phase in the development of
GvHD and discuss recently developed interventions and new
therapeutic strategies.
New investigator reports on natural killer cell activity
The recipient of an ASBMT/Roche New Investigator Award has
submitted a final report on his research on differentiation and
destruction of cancer cells. Subramaniam Malarkannan, Ph.D., and
his team at the Medical College of Wisconsin have been exploring
the role of natural killer cells as the first line of defense in
the immune response.
Applications sought for Manasevit research awards
The Amy Strelzer Manasevit Research Program, sponsored by The
Marrow Foundation and the National Marrow Donor Program, is
accepting applications. The program is for scientists and
clinicians early in their careers and is intended to advance the
understanding of events occurring after allogeneic hematopoietic
cell transplantation.
Marrow Foundation announces post-doctoral fellowships
Applications are being received for the Baxter Oncology,
Fujisawa and SuperGen Post-Doctoral Fellowships of the Amy
Strelzer Manasevit Research Program. Sponsored by The Marrow
Foundation and the National Marrow Donor Program, the
fellowships are for physicians and scientists in training for
careers in immunology and related disciplines.
Free ASBMT membership for trainees
Post-doctoral fellows and physicians-in-training for blood and
marrow transplantation are eligible for free membership in the
American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. During
the month of December, the annual dues will be waived for new
trainees who apply for membership in the Society.
FACT workshops scheduled for Tandem BMT Meetings
The Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT)
will be conducting two workshops on Feb. 9, the day before the
opening of the 2005 Tandem BMT Meetings. The workshops will be
“Preparing Your Facility for FACT Inspection” and “FACT
Inspector Training.”
Transplants vs. low-dose therapy in NHL is topic of online CME
program
James Armitage, M.D., presents recent data on non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma, focusing on clinical evidence that compares the
outcomes of hematopoietic cell transplant to other therapies.
The online program provides information on patient selection,
expected outcomes of autologous and allogeneic transplantation,
and the pros and cons of each choice in comparison to other
therapies.
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