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February
1, 2006 |
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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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• 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
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
2006 Spring Conference
March 31-April 2
Westin City Center Hotel
Dallas, Texas
• April
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
97th Annual Meeting
April 1-5
Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
National Bone Marrow Transplant Link (nbmtLINK)
11th Annual Education Forum
April 22
Livonia Civic Center Library
Livonia, Michigan
Canadian Blood and Marrow Transplant Group (CBMTG)
10th Biennial Conference
April 22-24
Shaw Conference Centre
Edmonton, Alberta
Responding to Hematologic Toxicity from a Nuclear Detonation
Event
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
April 28
MSKCC Rockefeller Research Laboratories
New York, N.Y.
American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPH/O)
19th Annual Meeting
April 28-May 1
San Francisco, California
• May
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
12th Annual Meeting
May 4-7
Maritim proArte Hotel
Berlin, Germany
Cell Transplant Society (CTS)
8th International Congress
May 18-20
San Raffaele Congress Centre
Milan, Italy
BMT Education Forum: The New Normal for Patients, Caregivers
and Health Professionals
National Bone Marrow Transplant Link (nbmtLINK)
May 20
United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast Community Resource Center
Houston, Texas
American Society for Apheresis (AAFS)
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 Meeting
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: 43rd Meeting
July 24-27
Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
Hamburg, Germany
• August
International Society of Hematology (ISH)
31st World Congress
Aug. 9-12
Puerto Rico Convention Center
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Cytokines 2006: Molecular Biology & Human Diseases
International Cytokine Society (ICS)
Aug. 27-31
Hilton Stadtpark
Vienna, Austria
• September
Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development:
Maximizing Opportunities for Treatment
American Society for Cancer Research (ASCR)
Sept. 12-15
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
10th Biennial National Symposium on Hematopoietic Cell
Transplantation
Stanford University School of Medicine
Sept. 28-30
Fairchild Auditorium
Stanford, California
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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Direct link between alcohol consumption,
cancer risk
Excessive consumption of alcohol raises the risk of several
types of cancers, and may be linked to pancreatic and lung
cancer. According to a report in the February issue of the
journal The Lancet Oncology, the more alcohol consumed, the
higher the risk of developing cancer. However, because of
alcohol's protective benefit with regard to cardiovascular
disease, researchers do not recommend giving up alcohol
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Autologous stem cell transplant improves outcome with lupus
Autologous transplantation of stem cells from bone marrow
can reverse the course of systemic lupus erythematosus,
according to a report published in the Feb. 1 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association. In a study of 50
patients refractory to standard immunosuppressive therapy,
researchers discovered that five-year survival after the
transplant was 84 percent, and the probability of disease-free
survival after five years was 50 percent.
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Combining tests improves identification of bladder cancer
recurrence
Combining a new urine test, called BladderChek, with
cystoscopy identifies 99 percent of all bladder cancer
recurrences, according to a report published in the Jan. 18
issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Although cystoscopy alone found 91 percent of the cancers, the
urine test found eight of the nine cancers cystoscopy failed to
identify.
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Marking technique identifies stem cells in
bone marrow
Scientists have invented a technique to locate isolated
hematopoietic stem cells at the edge of bone marrow, according
to an article published the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. The technique involves splicing a green
fluorescent protein gene from jellyfish onto the Gata-2 and IS
genes, which are uniquely used by blood stem cells.
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Word from President Nelson Chao, M.D.
Jack Abramoff has copped a plea of fraud and conspiracy
to bribe government officials. His real crime: excessive
and blatant practice of a craft that has been honed over
many decades by people who rely more on money than ideas
to influence legislation.
The “super lobbyist” has agreed to be a witness for the
prosecution of members of Congress. We’re told to expect a
flurry of other lobbyists testifying against crowds of
politicians -- enough to make a lot of courtroom Bibles
burst into flames.
I’m probably not unlike most of you in being of two minds
about the workings of Congress. On the one hand, I want to
be there to influence public policy decisions because I
know they can have a profound effect on us, our patients
and how we practice medicine. On the other hand, the
legislative arena can give every appearance of being a tar
pit where you never know who is holding what cards, what
deals have been struck and what favors are expected.
Health care public policy is probably guided as much by
politics as it is by medical need, scientific research and
what is right.
Yet once in a while, the political forces do converge to
produce a worthy outcome. We saw that a few weeks ago when
Congress passed legislation creating a national umbilical
cord blood program that will provide federal funding to
collect and store cord blood for life-saving blood cell
transplants. The legislation also reauthorized the
existing national marrow registry for unrelated adult
donors.
Never mind the motives of some legislators who were
seeking political cover for strongly held positions on
embryonic cell research. The important thing is $79
million in new federal funding to increase the number of
cord blood units available for patient matches.
People always say you can learn from failure, but I think
it’s also important to learn from success. We need to
deconstruct the many months of activity and maneuvering
that led to this law and understand how it culminated in a
unanimous vote in the Senate. We need to know the lessons
that can be applied to other initiatives to further
advance cellular therapies ... to propel needed basic and
clinical research ... to underwrite the costs of training
programs for young clinicians and investigators ... to
provide equitable reimbursement for patients under
Medicare and Medicaid.
As a relatively small corner of health care, our medical
field doesn’t have many dollars to buy influence.
Fortunately we can’t even consider following Jack
Abramoff’s playbook. But what we do have is a breathtaking
story about the things we can do today to help the
seriously ill, and the almost unimaginable things we’ll be
able to do, given the necessary resources, tomorrow.
The new cord blood legislation provides a taste of what
can be accomplished and the benefits to be accrued. As a
growing and maturing Society, we need to be ever-more
involved, leading the discussion and shaping public policy
that benefits our patients and future patients.
– Nelson |
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Legislation and Regulation |
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Maryland committee approves stem cell spending bill
A Senate committee in Maryland has approved a bill mandating the
state spend at least $25 million a year for stem cell research.
The bill must clear one more committee before it goes to the
Senate floor.
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Clinical Research |
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High white blood cell count points to higher cancer risk
People with high white blood cell counts have a 73 percent
higher risk of cancer deaths than do people with lower counts,
according to a report published in the Jan. 23 issue of the
Archives of Internal Medicine. A study of nearly 3,200
people in Australia between 49 and 84 years of age showed that
white blood cell count could be a reasonable but nonspecific
marker for inflammation, which can be associated with tumor
progression.
Adult stem cells transform into cartilage, heal arthritis damage
Working with rats, researchers have turned adult muscle stem
cells into cartilage and used them to heal the type of damage
caused by arthritis. According to a study in the February issue
of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism, the cells have
replaced damaged cartilage for as long as 24 weeks.
Enzyme affects cancer development in mice
Turning off an enzyme called DNA fragmentation factor leads
to a higher survival rate of cells in mice, even if these cells
have harmful genetic mutations such as those that cause cancer.
According to an article published in the online edition of
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mice
lacking this enzyme developed cancer three or four times more
often than normal mice after exposure to chemicals or ionizing
radiation.
Genetic modification of stem cells could remedy sickle cell
disease
Modification of embryonic stem cells holds promise for
remedying the genetic mutation that causes sickle cell disease.
When researchers harvested stem cells from blastocysts of mice
with sickle cell, then replaced the abnormal hemoglobin S with
healthy hemoglobin A, the modified cells grew into hematopoietic
stem cells.
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Pharmaceutical News |
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Protein Design Labs now called PDL BioPharma
Protein Design Labs Inc. has announced the company’s new
name, PDL BioPharma Inc., to better reflect its status as a
commercial company focused on discovering, developing and
marketing innovative therapies for severe or life threatening
illnesses. The transition to the new name coincides with the
integration of ESP Pharma Inc. into PDL BioPharma. ESP Pharma
had been operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Protein
Design Labs since its acquisition in the first quarter of 2005.
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Association
News |
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Helen Heslop elected to lead ASBMT in 2008
Helen Heslop, MD, has been chosen by mail ballot of ASBMT
members to be the society’s vice president. The office places
her in line to assume the presidency two years from now. Dr.
Heslop is director of adult stem cell transplantation at the
Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine
in Houston.
Newly elected directors are H. Kent Holland, MD, of the Blood
and Marrow Transplant Group of Georgia at Northside Hospital in
Atlanta; William Murphy, PhD, of the University of Nevada School
of Medicine in Reno, and Neena Kapoor, MD, Childrens Hospital
Los Angeles. Dr. C. Fred LeMaistre of the Texas Transplant
Institute in San Antonio has been re-elected treasurer. All will
take office at the close of the BMT Tandem Meetings this month
in Honolulu.
Panel recommends how to recognize, manage late complications
A consensus panel of ASBMT, CIBMTR and EBMT has developed
recommendations for health care providers on prevention,
screening and management of late complications in autologous and
allogeneic HCT patients. The recommendations are presented in
this month’s issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation.
Going to Honolulu? Here’s your online travel kit
A “travel kit” of information is available online for
participants in the 2006 BMT Tandem Meetings. Included are
things to know about average temperatures, time zone, airport
transfer, car rental, sightseeing tours, shopping and much more.
Medical directors to focus on preparation for next crisis
Emergency preparedness for disasters such as hurricanes,
tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and epidemics will be the topic
for this year’s BMT Center Medical Directors Conference at 1:30
p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19, at the BMT Tandem Meetings. Speakers
will tell what they have learned through recent personal
experience with crises and threats of crisis.
Orientation program planned for fellows in Honolulu
Fellows-in-training attending the BMT Tandem Meetings for
the first time are invited to a combination coffee break and
orientation program at 10 a.m. on the first day of the meetings,
Thursday, Feb 16.
Agendas set for nurses, pharmacists, administrators
Agendas are online for parallel conferences at
the BMT Tandem Meetings in Honolulu: Transplant Nurses (Feb.
18-20), BMT Pharmacists (Feb. 15-17), BMT Center Administrators
(Feb. 17-18) and Clinical Research Professionals Data Management
(Feb. 15-17).
Regulations you need to know to stay in business
A BMT Tandem Meetings session on federal regulation of stem
cell transplantation will include speakers on environmental
monitoring in the cell processing laboratory, SAEs and
deviations, and the FDA perspective on the regulation of stem
cell transplantation, presented by an FDA staff member. The
session will be at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19.
Tours, vacation packages add spice to scientific meetings
Professional help is available for arranging tours and pre-
and post-meeting vacation packages in Honolulu, on Oahu and on
neighboring islands: scenic and historic island tours, Diamond
Head hike, helicopter flights, Atlantis submarine, whale
watching, and Polynesian shows. Peruse the possibilities online.
Review examines a decade of dendritic cell research
More than 10 years have passed since the publication of the
first clinical data on immunology and dendritic cell biology.
This month’s issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation includes a review of clinical trials that
have established many of the concepts that have led to today’s
therapeutic outcomes, issues in dendritic cell immunotherapy
that remain unresolved, and a perspective on strategies
important for the design of future vaccine trials.
NIH converting to Web-based grant applications
The NIH is converting to a Web-based grant application
system. The transition, which will affect all applications,
revisions, continuations and renewals, will occur program by
program through May 2007.
Teleconference will address cell therapy for tissue repair
“Cellular Therapy for Tissue Repair and Stem Cell
Transplantation” is the topic of a 90-minute teleconference
developed by ASBMT for transmission across the country on April
26. Designed for physicians, technologists, residents/fellows,
nurses and managers/supervisors, the teleconference is part of a
series sponsored by the AABB.
More than $30,000 donated for disaster relief
ASBMT and its members contributed $30,050 to hurricane
disaster relief in 2005. The total included $15,000 donated
directly by the society and $15,050 by individual members. The
contributions were given to the American Red Cross, the
Salvation Army and America’s Second Harvest. |
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