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May 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
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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. 8-12, 2007
Keystone, Colorado |
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Calendar |
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• 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
2nd International Symposium on Childhood, Adolescent and
Young Adult Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons,
and the University of Giessen, Germany
May 18-20
Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers
New York, New York
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 (ASFA)
27th Annual Meeting
May 23-26
Venetian Resort Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
• June
Innate Immunity for the Mucosal Immune System
Society for Mucosal Immunity (SMI)
June 1
San Francisco Marriott
San Francisco, California
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
German Society for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology (DGTI)
in collaboration with the International Society for Cellular
Therapy-Europe (ISCT-Europe)
39th Annual Congress
Sept. 19-22
Congress Centre Messe
Frankfurt, Germany
American Society of Multicultural Health and Transplant
Professionals (ASMHTP)
14th Annual Conference
Sept. 22-24
Hyatt Regency
Dearborn, Michigan
6th Annual Somatic Cell Therapy Symposium
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
with AABB and the FDA
Sept. 25-27
Bethesda, Maryland
International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH)
35th Annual Scientific Meeting
Sept. 27-30
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota
10th Biennial National Symposium on Hematopoietic Cell
Transplantation
Stanford University School of Medicine
Sept. 28-30
Fairchild Auditorium
Stanford, California
• October
Tumor Immunology: An Integrated Perspective
American Society for Cancer Research (ASCR)
Oct. 4-8
InterContinental Miami
Miami, Florida
American Society for Human Genetics (ASHG)
56th Annual Meeting
Oct. 9-13
Ernest N. Morial Convent Center
New Orleans, Louisiana
American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI)
32th Annual Meeting
Oct. 16-20
San Diego, 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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Antidepressants can reduce incidence of
colorectal cancer
Patients taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have
a 30 percent lower incidence of colorectal cancer, according to
a report in the April issue of the journal Lancet Oncology.
Researchers examined a database of enrollees in a prescription
drug plan. The study was based on reports that serotonin, the
body chemical liked to depression, promotes the growth of cancer
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Korean stem cell center shut down
The World Stem Cell Hub in Korea has been formally closed.
In March, the hub was transformed into a research center that
studies adult stem cells, which are unrelated to cloning, and
other developing medical technologies for clinical use.
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Illinois awards $10 million in stem cell research grants
Illinois has announced grant recipients for $10 million in
state funding for stem cell research projects, up to one-fifth
of which can be used for embryonic stem cell research. Ten
researchers received grants of $250,000 to nearly $2 million
for research including replacing blood vessels, regenerating
bone, and reversing several diseases. Gov. Rod Blagojevich said
he will continue to look for ways to fund stem cell research
projects, even if the state Legislature does not approve
funding.
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Two-gene marker can predict breast cancer recurrence
Researchers have identified a two-gene expression ratio that
is an independent marker of early breast cancer relapse and
overall survival in lymph node negative breast cancer patients.
However, according to a study published in the April 2006 issue
of Clinical Cancer Research, these biomarkers are not
effective with lymph node positive tumors.
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Word from President
Robert Negrin, MD
Are you ready to report your treatment outcomes to a
public database?
Not any time soon, you say? Consider this:
• The recently enacted Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research
Act of 2005 will require all U.S. centers performing
allogeneic transplants to begin reporting all treatment
outcomes to a central registry.
• Third-party payers have expressed a desire to have more
detailed outcomes information for reimbursement decisions
and for designating centers of excellence. Some already
are moving in this direction.
• Patients and referring physicians increasingly are
seeking treatment outcomes information for making informed
decisions about health care.
• Solid organ transplants already have a sophisticated
system for reporting treatment center-specific outcomes.
If you haven’t seen the system for recording outcomes for
kidney, liver, lung and other solid organs, inspect the
records of treatment centers near you at
www.unos.org/data.
Should transplant center-specific outcomes for
hematopoietic stem cell therapies be reported to a public
registry? That question was put to a special committee
appointed by the ASBMT Board of Directors. The committee’s
answer is reported in a
white paper on measurement of quality outcomes
that is published in this month’s issue of Biology of
Blood and Marrow Transplantation.
In the simplest terms, the committee takes the position
that ASBMT should be involved in the development of
protocol for center-specific treatment outcomes
measurement and reporting. The alternative — inaction —
will lead to measurement systems that are imposed by
public and private entities outside the BMT community.
The committee proposes three criteria for outcomes
measurement to be accurate, useful and fairly applied:
1. Recognition of Diversity of Individual Programs.
The methodology for outcomes measurement and reporting
should recognize that larger centers may treat high-risk
patients with research objectives, and smaller centers may
treat limited numbers of patients on standard protocols.
But both are valuable in their contributions to health
care. A meaningful, high-quality analysis must account,
without penalty, for this diversity.
2. Quality Assurance and Improvement. Data derived
from outcomes reporting must be accessible for program
improvement. The data should enhance, not obfuscate, the
ability of patients and payers to obtain appropriate
transplant care. For these and other reasons, the
individuals most familiar with hematopoietic cell therapy
are in the best position to establish standards for
outcomes.
3. Minimal Burden for Data Collection. Electronic
reporting systems should be designed to easily interface
with existing informatics systems in transplant centers,
and also enhance and simplify data collection and analysis
in centers that have fewer informatics resources.
Minimization of data collection burdens is important for
controlling costs and for assuring data accuracy and
integrity.
The major research, donor, accreditation and health
professional organizations in our field — CIBMTR, NMDP,
FACT, ISCT and ASBMT — have demonstrated in recent years
that they can work together effectively to achieve
beneficial goals with legislators, regulatory agencies,
third-party payers and industry. The measurement and
reporting of treatment outcomes may be the next
opportunity for their effective collaboration.
Take a few moments to review the white paper on
measurement of quality outcomes. ASBMT members will have
an opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions to the
Society’s leaders in an online survey that will be
conducted later this month. As always, the members of the
Executive Committee and I appreciate your feedback and
suggestions.
– Rob |
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Legislation and Regulation |
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Cord blood banks invited to submit proposals for national
inventory
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on
Friday issued its awaited invitation to cord blood banks to
submit proposals for collecting and maintaining 150,000
genetically diverse, high-quality umbilical cord blood units for
the new National Cord Blood Inventory. The agency said it would
award contracts totaling about $14 million this year and $8
million in FY2007. The deadline for proposals is May 30.
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Clinical Research |
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Stem cell technology repairs spinal cords in rats
Rats receiving a transplant of glial precursor-derived
astrocytes (GDA) after spinal cord injury had regeneration of
more than 60 percent of their sensory nerve fibers, according to
a report published in the April 27 issue of the Journal of
Biology. The GDA cells seem to work by signaling the tissue
to repair in several ways, such as by suppressing scar tissue,
rescuing motor pathway neurons in the brain and aligning damaged
tissue at the injured site.
Proteins identified that help cancer cells spread
Researchers at Tufts University have identified several key
proteins on the surface of cancer cells that help these cells
spread. According to a presentation at the Experimental Biology
meeting, scientists said that destroying these proteins greatly
decreases the ability of cancer cells to invade healthy cells.
Stem cell trial for heart patients to start in two years
Within two years, 10 patients in Galway, Ireland, will be
taking part in a human trial of stem cells on heart patients.
Participants will have adult stem cells — extracted from their
pelvises and grown in the laboratory — grafted onto their
hearts, to determine if this helps repair the organs.
Researchers develop model of human medulloblastoma
By knocking out a gene called XRCC4, which produces a
protein that helps aid DNA repair, researchers have created a
mouse model that closely mimics human medulloblastoma. According
to a report published in the online edition of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this model
should prove valuable in understanding why some genes are
amplified in human tumors, as well as in testing potential
treatments for medulloblastoma. |
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Association
News |
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New diagnostic code approved for oral mucositis
A new code for oral mucositis will be added to the ICD-9-CM
diagnostic codes, effective Oct. 1. The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services is adding oral mucositis in an expansion of
the “528" stomatitis code.
HRSA to hold tele-hearings on cord blood bank accreditation
Two conference call hearings have been scheduled for public
comment on the accreditation of cord blood banks under the
National Cord Blood Inventory program. May 3 is the deadline for
registration to participate in the hearings on May 9 and May 15.
Should treatment outcomes be measured and reported?
The question was put to a special committee created by the
ASBMT Board of Directors. The committee’s answer is presented in
a “white paper” that appears in this month’s issue of Biology
of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. The article sifts
through the issues of placing transplant center-specific
outcomes data into a public registry.
Stanford physician wins ASBMT/Astellas new investigator award
A physician-scientist at Stanford University Medical School
is the recipient of a New Investigator Award from ASBMT and
Astellas Pharma US, Inc. Jing-Zhou Hou, MD, PhD, a clinical
fellow in the school’s division of hematology and BMT, is
conducting a preclinical study of human T regulatory cells.
Symposium to address cellular, molecular targeting for GvHD
ASBMT will present a symposium on “Cellular and Molecular
Targeting of Graft-versus-Host Disease” at the 6th Annual
Conference of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Society
(FOCIS) on June 1 in San Francisco. FOCIS is a federation of 19
associations in the field of clinical immunology.
CME audioconference will consider pediatric AML
A CME audioconference on “Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia:
Advances, Evidence and the Future” will be conducted Wednesday,
May 17, sponsored by the National Marrow Donor Program. Frank
Smith, MD, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center,
will discuss group stratification, options for treatment and
current outcomes. He also will describe upcoming studies that
will address comparative treatments.
The graying of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
For decades, blood and marrow transplant clinicians have
used age in decisions about candidacy for a stem cell
transplant. But less toxic conditioning regimens and improved
post-transplant care have been pushing the perceived
restrictions of age higher and higher. The current issue of
Blood and Marrow Transplantation Reviews presents the
proceedings of a symposium on stem cell transplants for older
patients that was held at the recent American Society of
Hematology annual meeting, sponsored by the National Marrow
Donor Program and the Medical College of Wisconsin. CME credit
is offered.
NMDP offers online Physician Resource Center
Visitors to the Physician Resource Center on the National
Marrow Donor Program Web site have access to data and references
for allogeneic and autologous transplantation. Visitors can find
evidence-based information, download outcomes data slides,
obtain educational materials for patients, print out referral
guidelines, and find CME programs and educational resources.
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