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February
1, 2005 |
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Top
Stories |
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Clinical
Research |
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Pharmaceutical
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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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Calendar |
• 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, Canada
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
Preservation of Cells, Tissues, and Gametes
Short Course
April 6-8
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
10th International Myeloma Workshop
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
April 10-14
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
Sydney, Australia
National Bone Marrow
Transplant Link (nbmtLINK)
“Ask the Experts” BMT Educational Forum
April 16
Livonia Civic Center Library
Livonia, Michigan
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
Westin Copley Place
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
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
American Transplant Congress
May 20-25
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
Seattle, Washington
National Bone Marrow
Transplant Link (nbmtLINK),
with support from ASBMT
“Ask the Experts” BMT Educational Forum
May 21
Lighthouse International Conference Center
New York, New York
• 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. 8-12
Hawaii Convention Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
2007
Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 15-19
Keystone Conference Center
Keystone, Colorado
2008
Tandem BMT Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 13-17
Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel
San Diego, CA
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Top
Stories |
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Cord blood transplants are viable option to treat adult leukemia
Adult leukemia sufferers can receive umbilical cord blood
transplants, using a technique developed by researchers at the
University of Minnesota that combines cord blood units from two
different partially matched donors. The study of 23 patients
with acute and chronic leukemia, published in the Feb. 1 issue
of the journal Blood, shows 57 percent disease-free
survival at one year and a 72 percent success rate for those who
received the transplant while their cancer was in remission.  |
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All U.S.-approved embryonic stem cell lines
contaminated with mouse molecule
All human embryonic stem cell lines approved for use in
federally funded research in the United States are contaminated
with a type of sialic acid, Neu5Gc, that is common in many
mammals but not humans. Researchers with UC-San Diego and the
Salk Institute for Biological Studies say these molecules, which
came from the mouse cells originally used to grow these stem
cells, can prompt an immune response in humans. |
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Gene in neighboring niche cells determines stem cells’ future
path
Regulatory genes in specialized niche cells residing near
stem cells give instructions to genes in stem cells to determine
the stem cells' future path, according to research published in
the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Current Biology.
Biologists at Duke University Medical Center say understanding
how these regulatory genes work is vital for future clinical
research involving stem cells.
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Tests being developed to detect cancer in
blood sample
Two lab diagnostic tests currently being developed by Quest
Diagnostics Inc. may provide a safer, less painful tool for the
diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of leukemia and lymphoma in
cancer patients. The tests, based on research performed at The
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston,
test for tumor constituents in the blood, eliminating the need
for a bone marrow biopsy.
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Word from President Armand Keating, M.D.
I remember, as a youngster, our family’s first color
television. What an exciting day when we first pulled into
our living room the kind of pictures that we saw on
screens lined up in the window of the TV and appliance
shop downtown.
This thing was a console with a polished wood cabinet --
about the size of a small Volkswagen beetle. We got it
home and plugged it into the 15-foot antenna that stood
sentinel-like above our roof. I was enthralled to sit and
just watch the test patterns. Even the static was in
color!
Do you know the latest state-of-the-art technology for
television? It isn’t color or cable or even a satellite
dish. It’s “HDTV.” High-definition television. Those who
have it tell me that the picture is clearer, sharper,
crisper than anything you can imagine. In fact, I hear
it’s striking terror into the hearts of television
personalities and news anchors. Our colleagues in plastic
surgery are in for a bonanza with the expected demand to
smooth aging lines and remove wrinkles. It could bring new
meaning to the phrase “keeping your nose clean.”
We’re going to bring some of our own high definition to
the Tandem BMT Meeting this month, introducing a new
publication that could be called “HD-BMT.” One of my
ambitions for our society this past year has been to
produce an education book for our annual meeting, just as
the American Society for Hematology has done for its
annual meetings for many years.
We first talked about the idea at a Board of Directors
meeting at little over a year ago, and then we did some
research into the feasibility and cost. It didn’t look
promising. However, the chair of this year’s Scientific
Program Committee, Steve Emerson of the University of
Pennsylvania, announced at an organizing committee meeting
last February that we were going to have an education
book. And he made it happen.
When you register in Keystone, the book will be in your
registration bag. It’s also being published as a
supplement to Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation, so our members who can’t make it to
Keystone will also receive the book.
Each of the speakers in our plenary sessions was invited
to submit an article based on his or her presentation
topic. Nearly everyone complied
-- a few of them incentivized by Steve’s skillful begging and pleading as
the deadlines approached and passed. The result is a book
with not only invaluable overviews of timely topics for
trainees and young investigators and clinicians, but also
enough nuggets to demand the attention of more senior
members of our BMT community. The book will provide some
high definition for topics addressed in the plenary
sessions: regenerative medicine, leukemia stem cells, GvHD
and histocompatibilty, autologous transplant innovations,
and allotransplants and immune reconstitution.
To Steve, to his associate editors Sergio Giralt and Mark
Litzow, and to the authors of the contributed articles, I
send our congratulations for the education book and for a
very prime time job.
– Cheers, Armand |
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Clinical
Research |
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Bone marrow cells infused into heart improve congestive
heart failure
Infusing bone marrow cells into the heart through four tiny
incisions improved condition in patients with severe congestive
heart failure, according to a report presented at a recent
meeting of the Society for Thoracic Surgery. Out of 30
volunteers with an ejection fraction of less than 35 percent, 15
received infusions of their own stem cells, and average ejection
fraction in these patients after six months was 46 percent.
German scientists direct immune cells to kill cancer cells
Immune cells can be redirected to attack and kill cancer
cells, according to a report in the January issue of the journal
Immunity. German scientists used genetic methods to
circumvent immune cells’ self-tolerance of tumor- and
leukemia-associated antigens, possibly providing the basis for
new immunotherapy to treat cancer.
Study designed to test bone marrow production of
endothelial progenitor cells
Bone marrow can be stimulated to release endothelial
progenitor cells, which scientists at Emory University School of
Medicine will then use to grow new arteries in the legs to treat
peripheral vascular disease. This randomized, blind study is
designed to determine if and how much granulocyte-macrophage
colony stimulating factor will increase the number of these
progenitor cells circulating.
Gene therapy developed to kill cancer cells
Scientists at Columbia University Medical Center have
developed a gene therapy to kill cancer cells, based on the fact
that two molecules that are abundant in cancer cells flip a
switch called PEG. Researchers created an adenovirus that
carries the switch and a toxic protein; the virus enters all
cells but only kills cancer cells.
Novartis drug may improve breast cancer survival
Femara, a breast cancer pill developed by Novartis AG,
resulted in a 27 percent reduction in metastasis in a phase III
clinical trial of 8,000 women. The drug also produced a 19
percent reduction in the risk of relapse and improved
disease-free survival vs. tamoxifen.
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Pharmaceutical News |
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Protein Design Labs acquires ESP Pharma
Protein Design Labs Inc. in Fremont, Calif., is acquiring
ESP Pharma Inc. in Edison, N.J., for $300 million in cash and
$175 million of Protein Design Labs common stock. This
transaction gives Protein Design Labs commercialization
capabilities, as well as ownership of ESP’s IV Busulfex, a
preconditioning chemotherapeutic agent in bone-marrow
transplant.
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Drug to treat prostate cancer receives fast-track status from
FDA
Phenoxodiol, an investigational anti-cancer drug developed
by Marshall Edwards Inc., has received fast-track status from
the Food and Drug Administration for use in patients with
hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Data from recent studies in
Australia showed that the drug lowered PSA levels and suppressed
them for at least six months.
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Association
News |
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2005 version of RFI forms released
The 2005 update of the ASBMT Standardized Request for
Information (RFI) has been released, and the interactive forms
are available online. The RFI is used for submitting transplant
program data and information to third-party payers when they
request it.
Robert Soiffer chosen to lead ASBMT in 2007
Robert Soiffer, M.D., has been chosen by mail ballot of
ASBMT members to be the society’s vice president. The office
places him in line to assume the presidency two years from now.
Dr. Soiffer is chief of the division of hematologic malignancies
at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and co-director of bone marrow
transplantation at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Newly elected directors are Scott Rowley, M.D., of Hackensack
University Medical Center, Marcel van den Brink, M.D., of
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Stephanie Lee, M.D.,
of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. All will take office at the
close of the Tandem BMT Meetings this month in Keystone, Colo.
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 at 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 will then
break into small-group discussions about career paths. The
session is scheduled for 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb.
10.
Medical directors to consider quality outcomes measurements
The annual conference of BMT medical directors is scheduled
for 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, during the 2005 Tandem
BMT Meetings. The topic this year will be strategies for
measuring quality of treatment outcomes in transplant programs.
Panelists will include representatives of academic and
community-based transplant programs, both adult and pediatric.
The program is open to all Tandem BMT Meeting registrants.
Panel will examine FDA’s new ‘Good Tissue Practice’ rule
The Food and Drug Administration’s recently published Good
Tissue Practice rule will be the focus of an intensive one-hour
examination from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, at the 2005
Tandem BMT Meetings. Richard Champlin, M.D., will moderate a
panel that includes representatives of FDA staff and BMT
laboratory and clinical practice.
New lineup of CIBMTR working committee sessions
Accompanying the merger of the former IBMTR/ABMTR with the
National Marrow Donor Program has been a major re-alignment of
working committees for the Tandem BMT Meetings. These are the
open sessions at which the research accomplishments of the past
year are reviewed and research strategies for the coming year
are determined. The schedule for the new lineup of working
committee sessions is online.
Heavy pre-registration for Keystone
The total registration was 1,427 when the Tandem BMT
Meetings were last held in Keystone, two years ago. As of the
close of pre-registration on Monday last week, registration
stood at 1,507.
FACT-accredited facilities total 129
At the close of 2004 there were 129 blood and marrow
transplant facilities accredited by the Foundation for the
Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). Another 97 were in
various stages of application or inspection leading toward
accreditation.
BBMT presents review of antifungal therapy in invasive
aspergillosis
Despite the availability of potent new antifungal agents,
systemic fungal infections are on the rise and are associated
with significant mortality. Candida and Aspergillus
species are the major fungal pathogens. This month’s issue of
Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation presents a
review of antifungals to defeat invasive aspergillosis. The
author is Pranatharthi Chandrasekar, M.D., of Wayne State
University.
CME audioconference on AML treatment
“Adult Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Treatment Options:
Strategies to Improve Outcomes” is the title of a live CME
audioconference on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Margaret R. O’Donnell,
M.D., City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, Calif., will
discuss decision-making strategies to improve outcomes based on
the comparison of therapies for patients with AML. The program
is presented by the National Marrow Donor Program.
Free ASBMT membership for trainees
Post-doctoral fellows and physicians-in-training for blood
and marrow transplantation are eligible for free ASBMT
membership. The annual dues are being waived for trainees who
apply for membership in the Society, a program made possible by
a grant from ESP Pharma.
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