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| August 3, 2009 |
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eNews
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| Calendar |
• August
Brazilian BMT Society
13th Annual Congress
Aug. 5-8
Estacao Embratel Convention Center
Curitiba, Brazil
• September
International Society for Experimental Hematology (ISEH)
38th Annual Scientific Meeting
Sept. 9-12
Hotel Divani Caravel
Athens, Greece
Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)
Sept. 11-12
Marriott Marquis
New York, New York
11th International Conference on Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
European School of Hematology (ESH)
Sept. 11-13
Palais des Congrès Bordeaux Lac
Bordeaux, France
American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB)
33rd Annual Meeting
Sept. 13-16
MGM Grand
Las Vegas, Nevada
9th Annual Somatic Cell Therapy Symposium
International Society of Cellular Therapy
Sept. 14-15
Hyatt Regency Bethesda
Bethesda, Maryland
European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
Annual Meeting
Sept. 20-24
Internationale Congress Centrum
Berlin, Germany
26th National Oncology Economics Conference
Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC)
Sept. 22-25
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
American Society of Multicultural Health and Transplant Professionals (ASMHTP)
17th Annual Meeting
Sept. 23-25
Green Valley Ranch
Las Vegas, Nevada
• October
Inaugural ISCT Australasian Regional Meeting
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
Oct. 17
University of South Australia
Adelaide, Australia
Cytokines 2009: Cellular and Cytokine Interactions in Health and Disease
International Cytokine Society (ICS)
Oct. 17-21
Lisbon Convention Center
Lisbon, Portugal
American Society for Human Genetics (ASHG)
59th Annual Meeting
Oct. 20-24
Hawaii Convention Center
Honolulu, Hawaii
Lymphoma and Myeloma 2009: An International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies
Imedex
Oct. 22-24
Waldorf Astoria Hotel
New York, New York
Myelodysplastic Syndromes
European School of Hematology
Oct. 22-25
Pullman Mandelieu Hotel
Mandelieu, France
American Association of Blood Banks (AABB)
2009 Annual Meeting
Oct. 24-27
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, Louisiana
World Conference on Regenerative Medicine
Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology
Oct. 29-31
Congress Centre Leipzig
Leipzig, Germany
• November
International Workshop on the Biology, Prevention and Treatment of Relapse after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Nov. 2-3
Natcher Auditorium
Bethesda, Maryland
American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI)
35th Annual Meeting
Nov. 2-6
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
San Francisco, California
National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
22nd Annual Council Meeting
Nov. 6-8
Hilton Minneapolis Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota
5th International Congress on Myeloproliferative Diseases and Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Imedex
Nov. 5-7
Marriott New York – Brooklyn Bridge
New York, New York
European Society of Gene Therapy (ESGT)
17th Annual Congress
Nov. 21-25
Convention Centre at Hannover Fairground
Hanover, Germany
2nd International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research
European School of Haematology (ESH) and Eurocord
Nov. 26-28
Auditorium Rainier III
Monaco
• December
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
51st Annual Meeting
Dec. 5-8
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, Louisiana
American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
49th Annual Meeting
Dec. 5-9
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California
2010
• January
Phacilitate Cell & Gene Therapy Forum 2010
Jan. 25-27
The Grand Hyatt
Washington, D.C.
• February
Stem Cell Differentiation and Dedifferentiation
Keystone Symposia
Feb. 15-20
Keystone Conference Center
Keystone, Colorado
BMT Tandem Meetings
Combined ASBMT and CIBMTR annual meetings
Feb. 24-28
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida
Advanced Course in Basic and Clinical Immunology
Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies
Feb. 24-28
Mondrian Hotel
Scottsdale, Arizona
• March
Clinical Practice Guidelines and Quality Cancer Care
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)
March 10-14
Westin Diplomat
Hollywood, Florida
Annual Winter Symposium: Management Promoting a Healthy Relationship with the Allograft
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
March 11-14
Rancho Las Palmas
Rancho Mirage, California
Association of Community Cancer Centers
36th Annual Meeting
March 17-20
Baltimore Marriott Waterfront
Baltimore, Maryland
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| Top
Stories |
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Peripheral blood has higher relapse risk in AML patients
When undergoing autologous transplant, patients with acute myelocytic leukemia in first complete remission are at a greater risk for relapse using cells from peripheral blood over bone marrow. According to a report in the August 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, relapse was higher and three-year survival was lower with peripheral blood transplant. 
Surgical thread embedded with a patient’s stem cells
A team of undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins University have found a way to embed a person’s stem cells into surgical thread. The students developed the procedure, which could help improve recovery from orthopedic injuries as well as in cardiology and obstetrics, as an entry in a medical technology company contest.
Blood and tissue cells are genetically different
Not all human cells are genetically identical. According to a report in the July issue of the Journal of Human Mutation, scientists have discovered major genetic differences between blood and tissue cells. The finding indicates that researchers may need to study tissue cells, rather than blood cells, to determine the genetics of specific diseases.
Transplant drug shown to extend life span in mice
Rapamycin (sirolimus) has been shown to increase the life span of mice by 9 percent to 14 percent. This is a novel application for the drug, which is used to suppress the immune system and ward off rejection after blood and solid organ transplants.
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 A Word from President Claudio Anasetti, MD
Don’t read my commentary this month. Especially if you find things like CPT codes, HCPCS codes and DRGs a yawner.
The codes are essential for claiming reimbursement for treatment costs, but they’re somewhat like corn syrup. We know that corn syrup is an important ingredient in many foods we eat, but who among us wants to learn all we can about corn syrup?
If you are still with me and didn’t stop reading after my opening paragraph, let’s pretend that you are the rarified physician who is enthralled by reimbursement codes, understands some of their deficiencies for blood and marrow transplantation, and is interested in improving them. Where would you focus your attention to make things better for you and your BMT patients?
Code Split. You might start with the DRG for bone marrow transplant. The current DRG covers both autologous and allogeneic procedures. I don’t need to tell you that there are dramatic differences between the costs of using a patient’s own cells and procedures that involve a donor, especially an unrelated donor. There are separate CPT codes for autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplant, but only one DRG. Wouldn’t it make sense to split the current DRG into two codes to better account for the different costs associated with each type of procedure?
Bundled Services. You might next turn your attention to donor services provided for your allogeneic transplant patient at a facility other than your own. When stem cells are acquired from an international source or from the NMDP, it’s rather straightforward to bundle and bill these as part of the transplant cost. But if the cells are harvested in an outpatient setting at another facility, who is responsible for the billing? You or the other facility? Well, that depends on who you ask and when.
Cancelled Transplants. What about the cost of cell acquisition when no transplant occurs? A billable service is performed when a donor search is ordered and transplant tissue is harvested for a specific patient. Those costs remain, even if the transplant does not occur because the patient died or for other reasons. A substantial number of patients for whom a search is initiated do not proceed to transplant. While there should be a billing code for this, none currently exists.
Outpatient Services. You also might focus attention on donor cell acquisition costs such as NMDP fees, tissue typing, donor evaluation and procedures related to cell harvesting, cell preparation and processing, and post-harvest evaluation of the donor. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) instructs that these costs can be included in the DRG payment for the inpatient setting, but has issued no similar instruction for the outpatient setting. Because of this, it isn’t clear whether these services can be billed and paid separately as outpatient services.
These kinds of issues are complex and often inter-related. They are of no small importance if you and your patient are relying on a coherent coding system for cost reimbursement.
Is anyone monitoring and working to improve the system on behalf of BMT? Can the system be improved?
In May, a coalition of BMT organizations met with CMS officials to discuss all of these issues, and a few others. Included were representatives of ASBMT, the National Marrow Donor Program, the American Society of Hematology and the AABB.
They discussed the differences between BMT and other medical procedures and how costs are incurred. They agreed to run data analyses to test some of the assumptions that were brought to CMS. Our representatives will be returning to CMS with the data and recommended code improvements. Changes won’t occur overnight, but we seem to be moving in the right direction.
I agree with you. The entire topic is arcane and tedious, and I’d rather be firing off otherwise-useful neural synapses on nearly anything other than reimbursement codes. But fortunately there are people among us who are devoting time, energy and smarts to these issues and representing us to CMS.
Please join me in lifting a glass to them. I’ll be filling mine with something other than corn syrup.
– Claudio
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| Clinical Research |
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External factors affect lineage choice for progenitor cells
Researchers have developed a new bioimaging method for observing the differentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells at the single-cell level. According to a report in the July 10 issue of Science, this method allowed researchers to determine that both cell-intrinsic mechanisms and external environmental factors can directly control HPC lineage choice.
Researchers reprogram adult cells into pluripotent stem cells
Scientists have cultured germline stem cells from the testis of adult mice and converted those cells into pluripotent stem cells without introduced genes, viruses or reprogramming proteins. According to a report in the July 2 issue of Cell Stem Cell, the reprogrammed cells can be used to generate heart, nerve or endothelial cells.
Outcomes similar for partially matched and unrelated donors
In patients suffering from hematologic malignancies, treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from partially matched related donors and unrelated donors resulted in comparable outcomes. According to a report in the advance online edition of Clinical Cancer Research, relapse, nonrelapse mortality, overall survival and leukemia-free survival were comparable between the two groups.
Gene affects state of progenitor cells
A gene called Chd1 prompts chromatin remodeling, which allows the transformation of progenitor cells into specialized cells and tissue. According to a report in the advance online edition of Nature, this could allow the development of strategies to reprogram mature cells into the pluripotent state.
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| Biopharmaceutical News |
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Cellular Dynamics produces stem cells from blood samples
Researchers with Cellular Dynamics have generated stem cells from ordinary human blood samples. These induced pluripotent stem cells are said to have all the characteristics of embryonic stem cells and can turn into any type of tissue cells in the body.
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| Association
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Registration opens for 2010 BMT Tandem Meetings in Orlando
Online registration and housing are open for the 2010 BMT Tandem Meetings Feb. 24-28 in Orlando. On a single Web page are links to meeting registration, housing reservations, preliminary program, abstract submission and parallel conferences.
Abstract submission deadline is Oct. 15 for Tandem meetings
Abstracts for the BMT Tandem Meetings in Orlando are being accepted through Oct. 15. Invitations for oral presentation will be offered to 90 authors whose abstracts received the highest scores from the review committees. Many others will be accepted for poster presentation. ASBMT will provide travel grants to young investigators whose abstracts are accepted for oral presentation.
New procedures announced for corporate-supported symposia
Symposia at the 2010 BMT Tandem Meetings will have new requirements and procedures for corporate support. The purpose is to completely separate the scientific and educational content from commercial and other considerations, and to comply with evolving rules and guidelines for continuing medical education.
Final call for I.T. Summit on Sept. 2-3 in Minneapolis
A second national Information Technology Conference, scheduled for Sept. 2-3 in Minneapolis, will help transplant centers submit and receive blood and marrow transplant data to and from the CIBMTR. Emphasized will be methods to increase the use of I.T. resources to improve clinical research and administration and comply with the regulatory requirements of the Stem Cell Therapeutics Outcomes Database (SCTOD).
Online webinar will address quality management
Quality management can be one of the most challenging responsibilities in the administration of a transplant program. The Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy on Aug. 26 will conduct an online webinar on “The Role of the QM Supervisor.” Topics will include how to create a culture of continuous quality improvement, and how to assist other personnel in the implementation of a QM program.
Comments sought on draft cord blood banking standards
A draft 4th edition of the NetCord-FACT International Standards for Cord Blood Collection, Processing, Testing, Banking, Selection and Release has been posted on the Web site of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. It is available for public comment through Sept. 29.
173 transplant facilities now FACT accredited
Five blood and marrow transplant programs achieved first-time accreditation and 11 others earned accreditation renewals during the second quarter of 2009, according to the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. A total of 173 transplant programs are now FACT accredited.
NCI plans workshop of relapse after allogenic HCT
The National Cancer Institute will hold an international workshop on the biology, prevention and treatment of relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation Nov. 2-3 in Bethesda. The goal is to generate research questions for a planned Request for Applications.
Carreras foundation announces 2009 fellowship
The José Carreras International Lukaemia Foundation is accepting applications through Nov. 2 for the E.D. Thomas Post Doctoral Fellowship. The scholarship provides $50,000 per year for three years for research that advances the diagnosis, prevention and cure of leukemia and related hematological malignancies.
Proposals sought for cGVHD laboratory study
The Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN) on Aug. 10 will release a request for proposals from qualified laboratories for an immunophenotypic analysis of regulatory T-cells, B-cell activation markers and plasma BAFF levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in pre- and post-treatment samples collected from patients being treated for chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) following allogeneic hematologic stem cell transplant. The deadline for proposals is Sept. 11.
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 August through October, annual dues are waived for new trainees who apply for membership in the Society. The program is made possible through a grant from Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Systemic amyloidosis reviewed in BBMT
The role of high-dose chemotherapy and auto HCT transplants in primary systemic amyloidosis is reviewed in this month’s issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. The literature review was prepared by Dr. Rahul Mhaskar and colleagues at the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and the College of Medicine at the University of South Florida.
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