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November
1, 2005 |
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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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BMT Tandem
Meetings
Feb. 16-20, 2006
Honolulu, Hawaii |
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Calendar |
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• November
National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
18th Annual Council Meeting
Nov. 4-6
Hilton Minneapolis Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Anti-Angiogenesis and Drug Delivery to Tumors: Bench to
Bedside and Back
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Nov. 9-13
The Westin Waltham-Boston
Waltham, Massachusetts
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in the 21st Century
3rd European School of Hematology International Conference
Nov. 11-13
Cotone Congress Center
Genoa, Italy
International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer
Therapeutics: Discovery, Biology and Clinical Applications
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Nov. 14-18
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cancer, Proteases and the Tumor Microenvironment
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Nov. 30-Dec. 4
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa
Bonita Springs, Florida
• December
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
47th Annual Meeting
Dec. 10-13
Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta, Georgia
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
45th Annual Meeting
Dec. 10-14
Moscone Center
San Francisco, California
2006
• January
New Developments in the Epidemiology of Cancer Prognosis:
Traditional and Molecular Predictors of Treatment Response and
Survival
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Jan. 11-15
Charleston Place
Charleston, South Carolina
Ubiquitin and Cancer: From Molecular Targets and Mechanisms
to the Clinic
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Jan. 18-22
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Drugging the Cancer Genome: Developing Rational Combination
Therapies for Multigene Cancers
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Jan. 25-29
Marriott Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa
Rancho Mirage, California
• February
Conference on Molecular Basis for Targeted Therapy for
Leukemia
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
and European School of Haematology (ESH)
Feb. 2-6
Cascais, Portugal
BMT Tandem Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 16-20
Hawaii Convention Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
2nd Advances Against Aspergillosis Conference
Feb. 22-25
Hilton Athens
Athens, Greece
• March
Cancer Susceptibility and Cancer Susceptibility Syndromes
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
March 1-5
Sheraton Maui
Maui, Hawaii
Frontiers of Immune Suppression
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
10th Annual Winter Symposium
March 16-19
Westin Resort & Spa Cancun
Cancun, Mexico
European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
32nd Annual Meeting
March 19-22
Congress Centrum Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
• April
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
97th Annual Meeting
April 1-5
Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPH/O)
19th Annual Meeting
April 28-May 1
San Francisco, California
• May
American Society for Apheresis (AAS)
27th Annual Meeting
May 23-26
Venetian Resort Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
• June
Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS)
6th Annual Conference
June 1-5
San Francisco Marriott
San Francisco, California
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
42nd Annual Meeting
June 3-6
Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta, Georgia
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
4th Annual Meetings
June 29-July 1
Metro Toronto Convention Center
Toronto, Ontario
• July
World Transplant Congress 2006
American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS)
and the American Society of Transplantation (AST)
July 22-27
Hynes Convention Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Society for Cryobiology
Cryo 2006: 43nd Meeting
July 24-27
Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
Hamburg, Germany
2007
BMT Tandem Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 8-12
Keystone Conference Center
Keystone, Colorado
2008
BMT Tandem Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 13-17
Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel
San Diego, California
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Top
Stories |
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Unique chromosomal combination found in
prostate cancer
Patients with prostate
cancer have a recurring pattern of scrambled chromosomes that
leads to the merging of specific genes. According to a report
published in the Oct. 28 issue of the journal Science,
this activity occurs only in prostate cancer and is not found
in non-cancerous prostate tissue.  |
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Stem cells coaxed to develop into endoderm
Scientists have determined a combination of chemical
compounds that spurs stem cells to develop into endoderm, a
layer of tissue that gives rise to several internal organs.
According to a study to be published in the December issue of
the journal Nature Biotechnology, this finding may be
seminal in the culturing of stem cells that differentiate into
specific tissues.
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FDA approves transplanting neural cells into
human brains
The Food and Drug Administration has approved
transplantation of immature neural cells into human brains in an
attempt to treat six children suffering from Batten disease, a
degenerative, and ultimately fatal, genetic disorder. Before
doctors at Stanford University Medical Center can proceed, an
internal Stanford review board must approve the test.
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World Stem Cell Foundation established in
Korea
The World Stem Cell Foundation has been established in
Seoul, South Korea, with satellite laboratories in Oxford,
England, and San Francisco. The foundation’s work will include
harvesting ova from local donors and performing therapeutic
cloning at the satellite locations. The cells will then go to
Seoul for development into embryonic stem cell lines.
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Word from President Nelson Chao, M.D.
You’ve probably seen him many times. Charlie Brown
standing on the pitcher’s mound.
In one of my favorite panels, Lucy has approached the
mound with her catcher’s mask pushed back to the top of
her head, and Charlie Brown is wearing his usual
perplexed, defeated look.
“We’re doomed,” Charlie Brown sighs.
“No,” Lucy says, “We are surrounded by insurmountable
opportunities.”
Maybe ASBMT leaders resembled Lucy several years ago when
they made a commitment to begin the development of
evidence-based reviews. Wise, experienced counselors told
them that other much larger organizations had undertaken
similar challenges, and it had cost them untold hundreds
of volunteer hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But those stubborn board members had a shared belief that
the reviews were something that had to be done. There was
need to document the role of hematopoietic stem cell
transplantation in disease treatment, and to provide that
documentation to third-party payers, referring physicians,
legislators, patient advocates, the media and certainly to
our patients. If we didn’t assume the responsibility, then
who did we expect to do it?
They set up an independent Steering Committee to guide the
development of the reviews. Each review was to have its
own expert panel of nationally recognized authorities,
including those who specialize in transplantation and
others whose expertise is in other treatment modalities
for the disease. Each panel also would have representation
from third-party payers and patient advocates.
The effort has stayed true to that original course, and
the result has been a series of comprehensive reviews that
began in 2001 with diffuse large cell B-cell non-Hodgkin
lymphoma, followed in 2003 by multiple myeloma.
In this month’s issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation is the newest review on acute
lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children. A review of ALL
in adults will be published in January. Work is under way
for the next review, addressing acute myeloid leukemia in
children.
The reviews define current medical practice and document
the role of cytotoxic therapy with hematopoietic stem cell
therapy in the treatment of each disease. They also
identify areas where evidence is lacking and where
additional research is needed.
The original motivation for the reviews was to provide
guidance to third-party payers. That’s still an important
objective, but the use of the reviews has expanded well
beyond reimbursement decisions. In recent years,
evidence-based medicine has evolved into a widely accepted
methodology for enhancing medical decision making. As
noted in an editorial that accompanies the review in this
month’s journal, “A thorough, systematic evidence-based
review is a powerful tool to assist physicians and
patients who otherwise must make choices on the basis of
conventional wisdom, hearsay and piecemeal empirical
data.”
The editorial from the Steering Committee is important
reading because it explains how the process of developing
evidence-based reviews has evolved and improved over the
past several years, and how the processes being used by
our expert panels have continued to keep pace.
There’s plenty of reason to celebrate as each of these
reviews appears. An opportunity surmounted.
– Nelson |
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Clinical Research |
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Small cell lung cancer responds to chemotherapy and
transplant
Treatment of small cell lung cancer with high-dose
chemotherapy followed by peripheral blood stem cell
transplantation is feasible and appears to be well-tolerated.
According to an article published in the October issue of the
journal Chest, 83 percent of the 18 patients treated with
this regimen had complete or near-complete disappearance of
detectable cancer.
Molecular Switch controls communication between tumor cells
Scientists have discovered the structure of the molecular
switch that controls communication between tumor cells,
according to a report in the Oct. 21 issue of the journal
Cell. The switch, a cell-surface protease called ADAM 10,
regulates the signals that promote tumor growth and motility of
cancer cells.
Technique produces embryonic cells without destroying
embryo
Using a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
could produce human embryonic stem cells without destroying the
embryo, according to a report published in the online edition of
the journal Nature. The technique, which is being tested
in mice, involves removing a single cell from an eight-cell
embryo, allowing it to divide, and then using one of the cells
to establish a stem cell line.
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Association
News |
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BMT centers in Florida take Wilma in stride
BMT centers in South Florida last week felt the punch of
Hurricane Wilma, but remained on their feet -- unlike New
Orleans, where Katrina knocked them down for the count, or in
Houston, where Rita delivered only a glancing blow.
Evidence-based review for pediatric ALL released
A comprehensive review of blood and marrow transplantation
for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children appears in this
month’s Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. The
report is the latest in the series of ASBMT evidence-based
reviews of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for specific
diseases.
BBMT covers autoimmune disease, cord blood, CPT codes
In addition to the evidence-based review on pediatric ALL,
the November issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation features:
• An NIH workshop position statement on the feasibility of
allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for
autoimmune disease
• Abstracts from the 3rd Annual International Umbilical Cord
Blood Transplantation Symposium held in June in Los Angeles
• A perspective on new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)
codes for payment of apheresis- and BMT-related services.
Record pre-registration and abstracts for Honolulu
As of the Oct. 10 Early Registration deadline for the BMT
Tandem Meetings in Honolulu, pre-registrations were 46 percent
ahead of this year’s record attendance in Keystone, and abstract
submissions were 50 percent above this year’s record. The 2006
meetings will be held Feb. 16-20 at the Hawaii Convention
Center. Visit the ASBMT Web site for online registration and
housing reservations.
Tours and vacation packages offered for Hawaii
Professional help is available for arranging tours and pre-
and post-meeting vacation packages. Scenic and historic island
tours, Diamond Head hike, helicopter flights, Atlantis
submarine, whale watching, Polynesian shows -- peruse the
possibilities online.
Education book goes to press
The Education Book for the 2006 BMT Tandem Meetings has gone
to press. Session chairs and speakers have prepared 18 chapters
that comprise the book that will be published as a supplement to
the January 2006 issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation.
Nurses, pharmacists, administrators prepare for Honolulu
Preliminary agendas are online for parallel conferences that
will be held in February in Honolulu. These include the
Transplant Nurses Conference (Feb. 18-20), BMT Pharmacists
Conference (Feb. 15-17) and BMT Center Administrators Conference
(Feb. 17-18).
Early December deadlines for investigator awards
Dec. 1 and 2 are the application deadlines for several
awards and grants for new investigators, sponsored jointly by
ASBMT and Astellas Pharma US, Protein Design Labs, and the
American Society of Transplantation.
Award renewed for University of Michigan investigator
The recipient of a new investigator award from ASBMT and ESP
Pharma has submitted a mid-project progress report on his
research on the role of antigen-presenting cells in mediating
graft-versus-leukemia effect after experimental allogeneic bone
marrow transplantation.
New edition of cellular products guide now available
The second edition of the Circular of Information for the
Use of Cellular Therapy Products has been published and is
available online. It includes thorough descriptions of the most
commonly used, minimally manipulated HPC products and is
intended to be an extension of cellular product labels.
Symposium at ASH on transplants for older patients
A symposium on “Transplantation for the Older Patient: More
Choices for Improving Outcomes” will be presented at the
American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting on Dec. 9 in
Atlanta. Part of the “Corporate Friday” programs, the symposium
is being organized by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
and the Medical College of Wisconsin. It will present recent
outcomes data and provide practical considerations for
evaluating and treating older patients who may benefit from
transplantation.
New strategy for peripheral cell mobilization
Will agents such as AMD-3100 offer new hope for the
hard-to-mobilize patient that every BMT clinician sees all too
often? The latest issue of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Reviews, mailed to 10,500 hematologists and oncologists,
presents an edited transcript of a symposium on “CXCR4 Chemokine
Receptor Blockade: A New Strategy for PBSC Mobilization,”
presented at the 2005 BMT Tandem Meetings. A CME assessment test
is included.
Workshop on Chronic GvHD in Honolulu
“Assessing Response in Chronic GvHD Clinical Trials” is an
educational and training workshop that will be held Feb. 20, in
Honolulu. The faculty will be clinicians who participated in the
development of the 2005 NIH Consensus Criteria for Clinical
Trials in Chronic GvHD.
Contributions for disaster relief surpass $29,000
ASBMT members and their Society have contributed more than
$29,000 to national disaster relief organizations. The Society
has a program through which $100 is added to each member’s
donation that exceeds $200.
Free ASBMT membership for trainees
Postdoctoral 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 November and December, annual dues will be waived for new
trainees who apply for membership in the Society.
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