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March 1, 2007 |
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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. 13-17, 2008
San Diego, California |
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Based on current projections, registration for the BMT Tandem
Meetings
in 2010 will exceed 2,250. Do you think the BMT Tandem Meetings
should return to Keystone in 2010? |
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Calendar |
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• 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
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,
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB),
American Red Cross (ARC), and National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
March 15-16
Hyatt Regency Bethesda Hotel
Bethesda, Maryland
Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST)
Annual Scientific Meeting
March 15-18
Fairmont Banff Springs
Banff, Alberta, Canada
International Pediatric Transplant Association (IPTA)
4th World Congress
March 17-21
Gran Melia Cancun
Cancun, Mexico
International Society for Hematology (ISH)
31st World Congress
March 21-24
Conrad Resort & Casino
Punta del Este, Uruguay
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
World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA)
Working Group Meetings
March 23-25
Lyon, France
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
2007 Spring Conference
March 23-25
San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina
San Diego, California
American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB)
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
Advances in Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapy
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
March 30-31
University of Texas
Houston, Texas
• 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
12th Annual Update in Hematologic Malignancies
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
April 20
David H. Koch Cancer Research Building
Baltimore, Maryland
• May
American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPH/O)
20th Annual Meeting
May 3-6
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Toronto, Canada
American Transplant Congress
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
May 5-9
Moscone Conference Center West
San Francisco, California
5th Annual International Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation
Symposium
California Blood Bank Society and Cord Blood Forum
May 11-12
Los Angeles Airport Marriott
Los Angeles, California
Short Course on Preservation of Cells, Tissues and Gametes
University of Minnesota
May 16-18
University of Minnesota Department of Mechanical Engineering
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Approaches to Complex Pathways in Molecular Epidemiology
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
May 30-June 2
Hyatt Regency Tamaya
Albuquerque, New Mexico
• June
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
43rd Annual Meeting
June 1-7
McCormick Place
Chicago, Illinois
European Hematology Association (EHA)
12th Congress
June 5-7
Neue Messe Vienna
Vienna, Austria
Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS)
7th Annual Conference
June 7-11
Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina
San Diego, California
Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference
University of Nebraska Medical Center
June 11-15
Grand Wailea Resort
Maui, Hawaii
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
5th Annual Meeting
June 17-21
Cairns Convention Centre
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
13th Annual Meeting
June 24-27
Sydney Convention Center
Sydney, Australia
• July
Euroconference on GvHD/GvL: A Paradigm of Haemopoietic
Transplantation
European School of Haematology (ESH)
and the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
July 6-7
Antemare Hotel
Sitges, Spain
Society for Mucosal Immunology (SMI)
13th International Congress of Mucosal Immunology
July 9-12
Shinagawa Prince Hotel
Tokyo, Japan
Society for Cryobiology
Cryo 2007: 44th Meeting
July 28-Aug. 1
Banff, Canada
• September
36th Annual Scientific Meeting
International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH)
Sept. 28-30
Congress Center Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
2008
BMT Tandem Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 13-17
Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel
San Diego, California
2009
BMT Tandem Meetings
(Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings)
Feb. 11-15
Tampa Convention Center
Tampa, Florida
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Top
Stories |
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California stem cell research program ruled legal
A state appeals court has ruled that California's stem cell
research program is legal. The San Francisco-based court upheld
a decision made by a lower court last spring that found that the
program did not violate laws concerning state spending, the
structure of ballot initiatives or rules regarding conflicts of
interest. The legal challenge was brought by groups that oppose
abortion, research with human embryonic stem cells or taxes.
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Stanford University to build stem cell research center
Stanford University has received a $33 million donation from
the founder of Business Wire, a distribution service for
electronic news releases, to help build a stem cell research
center. Stanford hopes to complete the center by 2011 and
centralize researchers scattered across the university campus.
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Advanced age not a barrier to stem cell transplant
The conventional wisdom has been that people in their 50s
and 60s or older are not good candidates for hematopoietic stem
cell transplant, but research presented at the BMT Tandem
Meetings showed that the therapy can be as successful in the
elderly as it is in younger people.
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Cancer stem cells may hold key to disease recurrence
The existence of cancer stem cells – a rare population of
undifferentiated, long-lived cells responsible for a cancer’s
continued growth – may explain why many “cured” cancers recur,
according to information presented at the 2007 BMT Tandem
Meetings.
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African-Americans receive fewer stem cell
transplants
African-Americans are less likely to receive hematopoietic stem
cell transplants than Caucasians, no matter whether the cells
are from an unrelated donor, a relative or are self-donated,
according to research presented at the BMT Tandem Meetings.
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Stem cell study determined to be flawed
A study in 2002 that indicated a type of adult stem cell in mice
could have as much potential to treat disease as those taken
from embryos is flawed. The University of Minnesota, which
conducted the study, conducted an inquiry after British magazine
New Scientist raised questions about some of the data. An
expert panel concluded that a process used to identify the cells
was "significantly flawed, and that the interpretations based on
these data, expressed in the manuscript, are potentially
incorrect."
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 A
Word from
President Robert Soiffer, MD
It is said, be careful what you ask for.
Year after year, we have sought and achieved growth in all
areas for ASBMT. We’ve enjoyed an unbroken string of
membership records … ever-growing numbers of fellows
within our ranks … an expanding budget … increased
financial reserves … record attendance at the BMT Tandem
Meetings.
But sometimes there’s a price to be paid. Case in point:
the BMT Tandem Meetings in Keystone. Registration
for our meetings has grown not only at a steady pace, but
actually accelerated. Registration in 2001 was 1,309. We
returned to Keystone in 2003, and registration was up 9
percent to 1,427. In 2005 we again were at the resort with
registration up another 13 percent to 1,617. Last month,
registration at Keystone was up still another 15 percent
to 1,862.
The long and short of it – we are bursting the seams of
the Colorado resort. To make things fit this year, we took
the extraordinary and not-so-popular step of spreading the
five-day footprint of the meetings across eight days. We
were still cramped for meeting space, and several hundred
of our registrants had to find housing outside the resort.
We are now evaluating if and how our meetings can return
to Keystone as planned in 2010. Or should we go elsewhere?
Name your favorite winter sports destination – Vail,
Aspen, Park City, Lake Tahoe, Whistler – Keystone has the
largest convention center of any in North America.
It’s not any easy decision.
Why Keystone?
We know from past membership surveys that many of you love
coming to Keystone. There is the intimacy of the venue,
which cannot be matched in larger convention centers.
Personally, I like skiing, and my children learned to ski
at Keystone. But more important than the ski runs for me
has been the time I have spent on chairlifts with
colleagues from around the country and the world. Some of
my closest professional relationships in transplantation
were fostered on the slopes.
And then there’s the tradition. The relationship between
BMT and Keystone goes back to the early 1980s when a
UCLA transplant symposium brought about 100 physicians to
the resort. I’m told that meeting was held in a single
room in the Keystone Lodge!
Why not Keystone?
On the other hand, not everyone shares my love affair with
Keystone. Many of you don’t fancy alpine sports, aren’t
thrilled with the two-hour ride up the mountains from the
Denver airport, and are not crazy about being breathless
after walking up a half flight of stairs or enduring a
severe headache for 48 hours after arrival.
There also were many ways in which the limited meeting
space this year impinged upon the scientific and education
program. Given our current rate of growth, even without
any further acceleration, we can expect at least 2,200
people to register for the 2010 meetings.
Steps could be taken to suppress attendance – such as
omitting the allied health professional meetings or having
CIBMTR and ASBMT meet separately in 2010 – but none of
these has any appeal.
Did I mention that this isn’t an easy decision?
What’s your opinion?
I welcome and encourage you to submit your thoughts. Use
the interactive reader poll, in the left-hand column. We
will keep you informed.
While you’re thinking ahead to 2010, I need to take a
moment to acknowledge the superb quality of this year’s
meeting – an opinion that I heard expressed again and
again during our time in Keystone. The plenary and
concurrent scientific sessions featured outstanding
speakers, presenting hypotheses and generating
contemporary data that provided a glimpse into the future
of transplantation. I want to thank the Organizing
Committee and its co-chairs, Helen Heslop and John
Barrett, for assembling a terrific faculty and editing the
Education Book.
I also want to applaud the 450 investigators who submitted
abstracts for the meeting. Both the oral and poster
presentations were outstanding and stimulated a great deal
of spirited discussion. The quality of your presentations
reinforced ASBMT’s dedication to the development of young
investigators and our intention to provide meaningful
support for promising careers in hematopoietic
transplantation. Way to go.
– Rob |
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Legislation and Regulation |
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Bill calls for umbilical cord blood bank in Georgia
Georgia lawmakers have introduced a bill that would
establish a Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Bank in the state. As
of June 30, 2009, all hospitals would be required to inform
pregnant women about the opportunity to donate postnatal tissue
and fluid to the bank.
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Clinical Research |
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Study
begins on stem cells and heart disease
Researchers in Chicago are taking part in a Phase 2 clinical
trial to assess whether blood-derived CD34+ stem cells can
improve the symptoms and outcomes in patients with chronic
myocardial ischemia. This autologous cellular therapy trial is a
placebo-controlled study for adults on the maximum medical
therapy that will be carried out at 15 to 20 sites.
Company
ends umbilical cord blood therapy trial
Stem cell therapy company ViaCell Inc. has ended testing of
a potential umbilical cord blood transplant therapy for cancer
patients. Despite some promising early results, ViaCell said it
would not advance the compound because it appeared to not remain
in the body long enough to show that it would help rebuild blood
cells.
Researchers discover copper distribution during angiogenesis
Using X-ray fluorescence microprobe imaging, scientists have
discovered how the distribution of copper, a nutrient vital for
blood vessel growth, is distinct during angiogenesis.
Angiogenesis, the process of growing new blood vessels from
existing ones, also enables the spread of cancerous tumors
throughout the body.
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Pharmaceutical News |
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Leukemia drug receives fast track status
Biogen Idec Inc.’s experimental leukemia drug, lumiliximab,
has been granted orphan drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The drug
also was granted fast track status, which can cut approval times
in half.
Roche suspends enrollment in trial of anemia drug
Roche Holding AG has suspended enrollment in a trial of an
experimental anemia drug, Cera, due to safety concerns. Roche
said it is temporarily suspending recruitment into a mid-stage
trial of Cera in anemic lung cancer patients because of an
"imbalance" of deaths across the four arms of the study, which
was conducted outside the United States.
Erythropoietin drugs could be harmful to cancer patients
Off-label use of several drugs to treat anemia caused by
chemotherapy and to reduce the need for blood transfusions may
have been harming, more than helping, some cancer patients. The drugs,
versions of erythropoietin sold by
Amgen,
Roche and
Johnson &
Johnson, have generally been used in ways not approved on
the labels, but the companies say they are safe when used
according to instructions.
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Association
News |
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Transplant clinical research course applications due March 12
The deadline is March 12 for applications from fellows and
young faculty for the first ASBMT Transplant Clinical Research
Training Course, to be held in July in Keystone, Colo. The
course is designed to assist young clinicians and investigators
in career paths toward successful clinical research in blood and
marrow transplantation.
Rob Soiffer installed as ASBMT president
Robert Soiffer, MD, chief of the Division of Hematologic
Malignancies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate
professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, has
been installed as ASBMT president. Claudio Anasetti, MD, of the
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, is
the newly elected vice president, to become president in 2009.
BMT Tandem Meetings attendance exceeds 1,800
Registration for the BMT Tandem Meetings in Keystone, Colo.,
was 1,862 – 15 percent greater than the previous record at
Keystone in 2005. Attendees came from 41 countries.
Claim CME online by March 12 for the Keystone sessions
March 12 is the deadline for claiming continuing medical
education credit for sessions attended at the 2007 BMT Tandem
Meetings. This year, the session evaluations and CME credit
applications are online, instead of on paper forms. A
CME certificate can be printed out at the conclusion of the
online session.
Six abstracts chosen as best at Keystone meetings
A total 450 abstracts submitted by investigators from 31
countries were accepted for the 2007 BMT Tandem Meetings. Six of
the abstracts were selected for awards by the abstract review
committees.
Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Robertson
Parkman
The 2007 recipient of the ASBMT Lifetime Achievement Award
is Robertson Parkman, MD, professor of pediatrics, molecular
microbiology and immunology, and head of the Division of
Research Immunology/Bone Marrow Transplantation at Childrens
Hospital Los Angeles. Internationally recognized for his work in
primary immune deficiencies and immune reconstitution after
hematopoietic stem cell transplant, Dr. Parkman was one of the
founders of ASBMT and served as its first treasurer. The award
is supported by Pfizer, Inc.
Robert Klein receives public service award
The man most responsible for the $3 billion California
ballot initiative to fund embryonic stem cell research has
received the 2007 ASBMT Public Service Award.
Additional copies of ‘Education Book’ can be purchased
The Education Book for the 2007 BMT Tandem Meetings
has 24 articles written by the chairs of plenary and concurrent
scientific sessions. Additional copies are available.
BMT Tandem Meetings abstracts are searchable online
Abstracts accepted for the BMT Tandem Meetings were
published in the February 2007 issue of Biology of Blood and
Marrow Transplantation (Vol. 13, No. 2, Supplement) and also
are indexed and accessible online.
Recordings available for Keystone presentations
Audio CDs, MP3 files and CD-ROMs are available for purchase
or download for the BMT Tandem Meetings plenary and concurrent
scientific sessions, oral abstract sessions and symposia. Also
available are the recordings of the parallel conferences of the
transplant nurses, BMT pharmacists, BMT center administrators
and clinical research professionals.
Two new investigators win BBMT editorial awards
Two medical scientists are the recipients of editorial
awards for new investigators for their articles published this
past year in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.
37 young investigators receive travel grants
The ASBMT Board of Directors awarded $1,000 travel grants to
37 young investigators invited to give oral abstract
presentations at the BMT Tandem Meetings.
CIBMTR Board reviews 2006 accomplishments
A review of accomplishments of the past year was presented
to the Advisory Board of the Center for International Blood and
Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) during the BMT Tandem
Meetings in Keystone. A total 406 transplant centers in 41
countries submitted data to CIBMTR last year.
BMT CTN is organizing State of the Science Symposium
A State of the Science Symposium is being organized by the
Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN)
for June 7-8 at the University of Michigan. Details and
registration information will be available later this
month.
Decision model offered for pediatric transplantation
A process for decision making in pediatric stem cell
transplantation is presented in the March issue of Biology of
Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Justin Baker, MD, and
colleagues at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have
developed an “Individualized Care Planning and Coordinator
Model” for enhancing communication among patients, families and
clinicians. It emphasizes patient and family values and medical
and quality-of-life priorities in the decision process.
NMDP seeking transplant services medical director
The National Marrow Donor Program is seeking an experienced
researcher and transplant physician to direct activities related
to improving transplant outcomes and increasing patient access.
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