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December
4, 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. 8-12, 2007
Keystone, Colorado |
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Calendar |
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• December
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
48th Annual Meeting
Dec. 9-12
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, Florida
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
46th Annual Meeting
Dec. 9-13
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California
2007
• January
Stem Cell Transplantation in Children: Current Results and
Controversies - Meeting #9
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Jan. 16-18
Manchester Grand Hyatt
San Diego, California
In the Forefront of Basic and Translational Cancer Research
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
with Japanese Cancer Association (JCA)
Jan. 21-25
Hilton Waikoloa Village
Waikoloa, Hawaii
Cell Death and Cancer: Opportunities for Intervention
Stanley J. Korsmeyer Symposium
Jan. 25-26
Conference Center at Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts
Oncogenomics 2007
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Jan. 31-Feb. 4
Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs
Phoenix, Arizona
• February
Chemistry in Cancer Research: A Vital Partnership
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
with the American Chemical Society (ACS)
Feb. 4-7
Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina
San Diego, California
BMT Tandem Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 8-12
Keystone Conference Center
Keystone, Colorado
Making Rational Immunosuppression Decisions for the
Individual Patient
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
11th Annual Winter Symposium
Feb. 15-19
Wigwam Golf Resort & Spa
Phoenix, Arizona
Translational Research at the Aging and Cancer Interface
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Feb. 20-23
Omni San Diego Hotel
San Diego, California
• March
4th International Conference on Tumor Microenvironment:
Progression, Therapy and Prevention
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
with the International Cancer Microenvironment Society (ICMS)
March 6-10
Pallazo dei Congressi
Florence, Italy
Euroconference on Biobanking
2nd European School of Haematology (EHS) and European Group for
Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
March 9-11
Quinta da Marinha Hotel
Cascais, Portugal
Hematopoietic Growth Factors; Use in Normal Blood and Stem
Cell Donors
University of Minnesota Biomedical Engineering Institute
March 15-16
Hyatt Regency Bethesda Hotel
Bethesda, Maryland
5th Conference on Mesenchymal and Tissue
Stem Cells
American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT),
with the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
March 15-17
Wyndam Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana
Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST)
Annual Scientific Meeting
March 15-18
Fairmont Banff Spring
Banff, Alberta, Canada
International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA)
4th World Congress
March 17-21
Gran Melia Cancun
Cancun, Mexico
World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA)
Working Group Meetings
March 22-24
Lyon, France
Advances and Controversies in the Biology and Therapy of
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia and Myelodysplasia
Acute Leukemia Forum 2007
March 23
W Hotel
San Francisco, California
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
2007 Spring Conference
March 23-25
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
American Association of Tissue Banks
11th Annual Spring Meeting
March 25-27
Renaissance Hollywood Hotel
Hollywood, California
European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
33rd Annual Meeting
March 25-28
Palais des Congrès of Lyon
Lyon, France
• April
Organ Transplantation: Ethical, Legal and Psychological
Aspects – Towards a Common European Policy
Dutch Transplant Foundation (DTF)
April 1-4
World Trade Center
Rotterdam, The Netherlands,
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
98th Annual Meeting
April 14-18
Los Angeles Convention Center
Los Angeles, California
2nd Annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium: Heart and Blood
University of Wisconsin-Madison
April 18
BioPharmacetuical Technology Center Institute
Madison, Wisconsin
American Society for Apheresis (ASFA)
28th Annual Meeting
April 18-21
Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center
Nashville, Tennessee
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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Cord blood banking used for employee retention in India
In India, cord blood stem-cell banking has become an
important tool to curb employee attrition, particularly at
information technology companies. To encourage employee
retention, companies use a vesting system for this benefit:
Employees who stay for three years receive this benefit for
free; those that leave after two years must pay one-third of the
cost and those that leave after one year must pay two-thirds of
the cost.
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Stem cell transplant helps stroke patient
Stem Cell Therapy International Inc. has successfully used
its stem cell therapy transplantation protocol in Kiev, Ukraine,
to treat a patient suffering from a stroke. Six weeks after the
treatment, the patient, a practicing chiropractor in the United
States, could walk without any aids.
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Funding establishes cord blood bank in Upstate New York
A new $10 million umbilical cord blood bank will be built in
Syracuse, N.Y. Construction of the Cord Blood Institute, a
collaboration between the state health department, the State
University of New York's Upstate Medical Center and the New York
State Blood and Tissue Council, will begin in mid-2007.
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Chemotherapy drugs damage brain cells
Common drugs used to treat cancer can cause significant harm
to healthy brain cells, according to a report published in the
December 1 issue of the Journal of Biology. Researchers
determined that three commonly used chemotherapy drugs —
carmustine, cisplatin, and cytosine arabinoside — killed 70-100
percent of neural cells but just 40-80 percent of the cancer
cells at exposure levels typically used when treating patients.
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LifeCell expanding operations to United Arab Emirates
LifeCell of India, which operates umbilical cord blood stem
cell repositories, has applied for a license to operate in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This is the 22nd center for the
company, and cord blood collected from this region will be
stored in LifeCell's repository in Chennai, India. |
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 A
Word from President
Robert Negrin, MD
Here’s an important question: What’s the primary objective
of a BMT training program?
Your answer might be along the lines of preparing
physicians to competently and compassionately treat
patients who have hematopoietic diseases, malignancy or
bone marrow failure. A BMT training program’s mission is
to teach the cognitive and clinical skills needed for the
effective and safe use of high-dose therapy, coupled with
autologous or allogeneic cell transplantation.
That focus is good and as it should be. But one can ask
where, in the typical course of rigorous study, is the
opportunity to learn about clinical research? In a rapidly
advancing field like ours, the ability to understand,
interpret and even conduct clinical research is an
essential skill. It has been a dream of our Society’s
leaders to find a way to augment the teaching of clinical
research for interested physicians through an intensive,
focused course of study.
It is with enormous pleasure that I can announce the
fulfillment of that dream. This coming year, we are
launching the ASBMT Transplant Clinical Research
Training Course. The six-day program will be conducted
next July in Keystone and then repeated annually.
An outstanding faculty will provide small-group
instruction and mentoring in a collegial setting, high in
the Colorado Rockies. Tuition, travel, housing and meal
expenses will be paid for the participants – six fellows
and four junior faculty – competitively selected based on
applications for the program.
A transplant clinical research training course emerged as
a high priority in a recent ASBMT Board of Directors
strategic planning retreat. Our treasurer, Fred LeMaistre,
and I have delighted in serving on a committee, chaired by
Armand Keating, that developed the specifications for the
course and recruited two outstanding course directors: Dan
Weisdorf of the University of Minnesota and Nelson Chao of
Duke University.
Several of our industry partners — Amgen, Merck
and PDL BioPharma — have stepped forward with major
funding to underwrite the costs of the training course. We
gratefully acknowledge their generous support.
Details about the new training course are presented in the
ASSOCIATION NEWS section below.
The new research training course will take its place among
the programs that our Society offers to those who are in,
or recently completed, BMT training. Others include:
• New investigators awards — nearly $600,000 in
scholarships to date
• Editorial awards — $80,000 has been awarded for articles
published in Biology of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation
• Travel grants for all who present oral abstracts at the
BMT Tandem Meetings — more than $120,000 have been awarded
• Dues wavier for Society membership while in training
• Complimentary subscriptions to BBMT
• Honoraria for preparation of review articles published
in BBMT
We are very proud of welcoming our newest colleagues to
our exciting field, and we look forward to their many
contributions.
– Rob |
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Legislation and Regulation |
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Vetoed stem cell bill to be reintroduced in 2007
With their new leadership in the House and Senate, Democrats
in 2007 plan to reintroduce the stem cell bill President Bush
vetoed this year. Incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has
lined up the bill for passage in the first 100 hours of
business, and the Senate could act on it before the first month
is out.
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Clinical Research |
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A
Progenitor cells differentiate into lung cells
Clinical research shows that BioE's multi-lineage progenitor
cell (MLPC) can differentiate into a Type II alveolar lung cell.
The MLPC is a rare stem cell derived from human umbilical cord
blood that has shown the capacity to turn into multiple cell and
tissue types.
Stem
cells turned into nucleus pulposus tissue
Scientists have turned mesenchymal stem cells from adult
bone marrow into the cells that make up the nucleus pulposus
tissue that separates the vertebrae. These researchers are using
these results to perfect a way to rebuild the intervertebral
discs, and pre-clinical trials are expected to begin next year.
Zebrafish
regrow heart tissue after damage
Research into how zebrafish regenerate heart tissue and the
related discovery that certain growth factors facilitate
interactions between the stem cells and the protective cell
layer could help researchers develop new methods to treat heart
damage in people. According to a report published in the
November 3 issue of the journal Cell, after cardiac
injury zebrafish form stem cells in the wound that work with a
protective cell layer that covers the wound to re-grow
functional heart tissue.
Marrow
stem cell mobilization study beginning
Biothera has begun a study of Imprime PGG used with G-CSF to
help move bone-marrow stem cells into the blood for harvesting.
The study will enroll 56 patients and be completed by the end of
2006.
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Pharmaceutical News |
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FDA approves Herceptin to treat early stage breast cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved
Genentech's Herceptin (trastuzumab) to treat early stage breast
cancer. The approval follows the publication last year of study
results showing Herceptin could cut breast cancer recurrence in
half when given to women with early-stage tumors.
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Association
News |
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ASBMT announces new clinical research training course
A new ASBMT Transplant Clinical Research Training Course will be
inaugurated for fellows-in-training and junior faculty July
18-23, 2007, in Keystone, Colo. Tuition, travel, housing and
meal expenses will be paid for six fellows and four junior
faculty. Participants will be competitively selected.
HRSA awards $12 million to 6 cord blood banks
The Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded
funds totaling $12 million to six umbilical cord blood banks —
the first to begin collections for the National Cord Blood
Inventory.
FACT celebrates 10th anniversary
The Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy is 10
years old. To commemorate the anniversary, a plaque is being
installed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where
the FACT Accreditation Office was organized and has been
operating since 1996.
URN publishes guidelines on transplant consultation
The November issue of the URN Newsletter, published for
clients of the United Resource Networks, leads with “Guidelines
on Recommended Timing for Transplant Consultation,” developed
and recently updated by ASBMT and the National Marrow Donor
Program (NMDP). The guidelines are for referring physicians in
discussions with patients and for development of treatment plans
that may include blood cell transplantation. The guidelines
identify prognostic factors for patients at risk of disease
progression with standard therapy and suggest which patients
should be evaluated for transplantation.
Pediatric conference to be part of BMT Tandem Meetings
A one-day conference on blood and marrow transplants for
children and adolescents will convene on Feb. 7, the day before
the BMT Tandem Meetings in Keystone. Organized by members of the
Pediatric Blood & Marrow Transplant Consortium (PBMTC), the
program is the newest among parallel conferences at the
meetings. The topics and presentations will complement those in
the main scientific program and will include oral presentations
of the best pediatric abstracts.
Nurses, pharmacists, data managers will meet early in Keystone
Several parallel conferences annually held at the BMT Tandem
Meetings will convene before the five-day footprint of the
meeting, Feb. 8-12, 2007. The schedule shift is necessary
because of the growth of the BMT Tandem Meetings and limited
meeting space at Keystone. The conferences will be:
• Transplant Nurses — Feb. 5-7
• Clinical Research Associates/Data Management — Feb. 5-7
• BMT Pharmacists — Feb. 6-8
• BMT Administrators — Feb. 8-9
Pavletic receives NIH Director’s Award
A 2006 NCI Director’s Award has been presented to Steven
Pavletic, MD, for his development and coordination of an NIH
consensus project on clinical trials for chronic
graft-versus-host disease.
Study evaluates effects of IL-7 mesenchymal cells
T-cell homeostasis is regulated by several molecules. Among
them, interleukin (IL)-7 plays an essential role. A study from
Perugia University in Italy, reported in the December issue of
Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, analyzes the
impact of different quantities of IL-7 produced by human
mesenchymal stromal cells on the survival and proliferation of a
negative immunoselected naive (CD3+/CD45RA+) T-cell population.
Journal deliveries resume throughout New Orleans
As the affected areas in New Orleans continue to recover from
hurricane damage caused by Katrina, the postal service has
lifted the embargo on all zip codes in the region. Delivery of
current issues of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
has been resumed to ASBMT members located in the embargoed zip
codes.
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. Annual
dues are waived for new trainees who apply for membership in the
Society. The program is made possible through a grant from PDL
BioPharma, Inc.
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