| |
| November 2, 2009 |
| |
If
you are unable to view
these articles or access the
links,
please visit the ASBMT
Web Site at www.asbmt.org
to read this
issue. To be
removed from this distribution
list, please see
instructions at
bottom. |
| |
 |
Top
Stories |
| |
|
|
Legislation and Regulation |
| |
|
|
Clinical
Research |
| |
|
|
Biopharmaceutical News |
| |
|
|
Association
News |
| |
|
|
Calendar |
| |
|
|
Job &
Fellowship Connections |
| |
|
|
Monthly Journal |
| |
|
|
eNews
Archives |
|
|
| |
 |
| |
 |
|
|
|
| Calendar |
• 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. 5-7
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
Hematological Aspects of Autoimmune Diseases
European Hematology Association (EHA)
Feb. 13-15
Pullman Mandelieu Hotel
Mandelieu, France
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
Regenerative Medicine: Advancing Next Generation Therapies
13th Annual Hilton Head Workshop
March 10-14
Sea Pines Resort
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
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
European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
36th Annual Meeting
March 21-24
Austria Center Vienna
Vienna, Austria
• April
American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPH/O)
23rd Annual Meeting
April 7-10
Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Acute Leukemia Forum 2010 Advances and Controversies in the Biology and Therapy of Acute Leukemia and Myelodysplasia
Hemedicus Acute Leukemia Forum
April 9
Parc 55
San Francisco, California
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
101th Annual Meeting
April 17-21
Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
• May
American Transplant Congress
American Society of Transplantation (AST)
May 1-5
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, California
Immunology 2010
American Association of Immunologists (AAI)
May 7-11
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, Maryland
American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT)
13th Annual Meeting
May 17-22
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
Washington, D.C.
International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
16th Annual Meeting
May 22-26
Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
American Society for Apheresis (ASFA)
30th Annual Meeting
May 26-29
Sheraton New Orleans Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana
• June
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
46th Annual Meeting
June 4-8
McCormick Place
Chicago, Illinois
European Hematology Association (EHA)
15th Congress
June 10-13
The Gran Via Conference Center
Barcelona, Spain
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
8th Annual Meeting
June 16-19
Moscone Center
San Francisco, California
FOCIS 2010
Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS)
June 24-28
Boston Marriott Copley Place
Boston, Massachusetts
• July
UK National Stem Cell Network (UKNSCN)
Annual Science Meeting
July 12-14
University of Nottingham, East Midlands Conference Center
Nottingham, England, United Kingdom
Cryo 2010
Society for Cryobiology
47th Annual Meeting
July 17-20
Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
• August
Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST)
Annual Scientific Conference
Aug. 13-14
Vancouver Congress Centre
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Top
Stories |
| |
|
Lawsuit seeks compensation for marrow donors
Several cancer patients and parents of cancer patients have filed a lawsuit in federal court against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, saying that including bone marrow in the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act, which prohibits buying or selling organs, is unconstitutional. The plaintiffs argue that bone marrow can be replenished by the body and belongs in the company of plasma, sperm or eggs, which can be lawfully sold – not in the category of kidneys, lungs and livers. 
Jaw bone created from adult stem cells in the lab
Scientists have used human stem cells taken from bone marrow to create a temporomandibular joint in the lab. According to a report in the advance online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the cells were seeded into a tissue scaffold, then cultured using a bioreactor that infused the growing tissue with exactly the level of nutrients found during natural bone development.
NHLBI awards $170 million for stem, progenitor cell technologies
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded $170 million to 18 teams of research scientists to develop stem and progenitor cell tools and therapies. The awards, to be paid over seven years, create the NHLBI Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium, which assembles nine research hubs with multidisciplinary teams of principal investigators and an administrative coordinating center to focus on progenitor cell biology.
Stem cell ‘vaccination’ may combat colon cancer
Immunizing a person suffering from cancer with stem cells may initiate a tumor-combating immune program by fooling the immune system into believing cancer cells are present. According to a report in the advance online edition of Stem Cells, researchers vaccinated mice with human embryonic stem cells and found that the mice developed a consistent immune response against colon cancer cells.
|
| |
 A Word from President Claudio Anasetti, MD
Would you, as a patient with recurrent tachycardia, agree to treatment with ablation by a cardiologist who has not been trained in heart electrophysiology?
Would you, as a patient with a transplanted liver, accept care that is managed by a hepatologist who has not been trained in transplantation?
For both of these conditions, we know there are physicians who have subspecialty training and certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine. I imagine that in both cases all of us would seek care from a subspecialty trained and board-certified clinician.
That option is not always available to patients with leukemia or other blood disorders that require stem cell transplants. There is no standardized subspecialty training and certification in BMT. Most insurance companies demand training and certification in medical oncology or hematology but, as we know, within these two specialties the BMT training is variable from program to program.
Program Variations
Some fellows are fortunate to be trained in the few centers that have large BMT programs that expose them to the science and the clinical challenges of BMT. But most of the approximately 180 hem-onc fellowship programs have small BMT programs or have no BMT program at all.
The average BMT program has three attending physicians who perform about 70 procedures per year, and use 10 or fewer hospital beds. That means exposure to BMT procedures and opportunities to work with transplant patients are modest at best for the typical hem-onc fellow.
Current standards of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) require only one month of BMT training during the three years of an adult hem-onc fellowship. For pediatric fellowships, there is not even a time requirement, only that the training program offer an educational experience in BMT.
Such small exposure to BMT is hardly adequate for a fellow to learn how to select patients, perform a transplant, manage complications or coordinate post-transplant care. Most ASBMT members recognize this, as evident in their responses several weeks ago to a survey about BMT training and board certification. (Details of the survey are reported below under Association News.) Nearly a third said that the optimal length of training should be six months, and more than half said 12 months.
Alternative Solutions
One way to achieve the objective of broader and deeper training is to expand fellowship training by an additional year through the available non-accredited BMT fellowship programs offered by major transplant centers. However, these programs usually are pursued only by applicants whose hem-onc fellowship program did not offer BMT, and are only modestly successful in attracting fellows to a BMT career. Another option, favored by some in the ASBMT member poll, would put BMT training into the three-year hem-onc fellowship. This could be achieved in the second part of a fellowship that is frequently reserved for research, but accomplishing this depends upon each fellowship program director. It’s not facilitated by the ACGME.
But let’s say, for a moment, that we decide on the best way to provide the necessary training. How do we then test for competency of fellows who have completed a BMT training program, short of subspecialty certification? Less than 1 percent of questions on the oncology board exam pertain to BMT. On the hematology board exam the 10 percent to 20 percent of questions about BMT are written from the general hematologists’ point of view.
They do not test for the technical knowledge that a physician needs to successfully perform in the BMT field.
As shown in the survey responses, there are no clear answers. The larger question may be whether, over the long term, the BMT field can thrive or even survive without comprehensive training and assessment for our fellows.
– Claudio
|
|
| |
| Legislation and Regulation |
| |
FDA issues cord blood bank licensing plan
The FDA has issued a long-awaited draft guidance on the licensing of cord blood banks. Comments are being accepted through Jan. 19.
|
| |
| Clinical Research |
| |
Adult stem cells prevent acute lung injury
Adult stem cells from bone marrow can prevent acute lung injury in mice. According to a report in the advance online edition of Stem Cells, the surfaces of specific progenitor stem cells in the bone marrow called Flk-1 and CD34 contain integrins that allow the cells to stick to their targets and repair damaged endothelium.
Cell-based therapies improve Alport syndrome in mice
Treatment with stem cells can repair the kidney defects associated with Alport syndrome. According to a report in the November issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, bone marrow transplantation and blood transfusion in mice significantly improved kidney function during the late stages of the disease.
Method protects against graft-versus-host disease
A method called co-stimulatory blockade that inactivates specific immune cells from a stem cell transplant donor may also suppress graft-versus-host disease. According to a report published in the Oct. 7 issue of Science Translational Medicine, this method unleashes a surge of regulatory T cells that further dampens the immune reaction.
DNA process influences stem cell development
A process called DNA methylation influences whether hematopoietic stem cells will develop into new stem cells or differentiate into other blood cells. According to a report in the advance online edition of Nature Genetics, switching off one of the three enzymes that regulates DNA methylation completely disturbed the hematopoietic stem cell function.
Treatment shows promise in targeting pancreatic cancer cells
A bioengineered treatment may target pancreatic cancer without damaging healthy cells. According to findings presented at the 95th annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons, the treatment consists of engineered, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and a gene product toxic to tumor growth that is expressed when the tumor actively recruits the stem cells.
|
| |
| Biopharmaceutical News |
| |
FDA approves Arzerra to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Arzerra, developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Genmab A/S, to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia in patients who have failed to respond to other therapies. The FDA said the accelerated approval process requires further study of the drug.
Gamida, Cellerix study feasibility of combining technologies
Gamida Cell Ltd. and Cellerix, S.A., are collaborating on a feasibility study to evaluate the added value of combining the two companies’ proprietary technology. Gamida is developing technologies to expand specific populations of progenitor cells; Cellerix is developing medicines based on expanded adult stem cells.
|
| |
| Association
News |
| |
Member opinions vary on board certification
ASBMT members are not of a single mind about board certification. They find some aspects of BMT clinician certification appealing, but other elements troubling, according to a membership survey that was conducted in September.
Transplant research priorities published
ASBMT Research Priorities appear in this month’s issue of Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Organized into eight major areas, the statement of priorities is a consensus of the society’s leaders about the most urgent needs in basic, translational and clinical research.
Dec. 1 deadline for new investigator awards
New investigator awards of $60,000 each, to be presented at the 2010 BMT Tandem Meetings, are being supported by HistoGenetics, Inc., Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., and ASBMT. The deadline for applications is Dec. 1.
Travel grants available for hem/onc fellows
ASBMT members can nominate hematology and oncology fellows for travel grants to attend the 2010 BMT Tandem Meetings in Orlando. Ten grants of $1,000 each will be awarded first-come, first-served — part of a program to introduce young clinicians and investigators to the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Recruitment will again be theme for ASH exhibits
ASBMT and six other cell therapy organizations are collaborating again this year on a recruitment theme in their exhibit booths at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting. CIBMTR, NMDP, ISCT, FACT, AABB and NetCord will provide information about careers in hematopoietic cell transplantation, emphasizing the growth of the field, its opportunities and the resources that are available to young clinicians and investigators. A joint advance mailing to ASH pre-registrants will invite visitors to the booths, which will be in a single area of the exhibit hall.
‘Online Seminars’ features cord blood state of the science
The state of the science of umbilical cord blood transplantation is the newest course offering in the series of ASBMT Online Seminars. John Wagner, MD, of the University of Minnesota explains how cord blood is now a treatment of choice for pediatric acute leukemia, and applicable for other diseases in children and adults. Print out a certificate for an hour of Category 1 CME credit upon completion of the program.
Reimbursement tips and tactics
Tips and tactics for transplant procedure reimbursement are being posted on the ASBMT Web site beginning this month. On the home page, click “BMT Center Management.” The first posting concerns a 10-day time limit on bone marrow harvest for Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement.
New edition of membership directory mailed
The 2009-2010 ASBMT Membership Directory has been mailed to all members of the Society. The directory includes 379 members who have joined since the last edition, plus more than 2,600 changes of mailing addresses, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses. The directory is supported by a grant from Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.
174 transplant facilities now FACT accredited
One blood and marrow transplant program achieved first-time accreditation and 11 others earned accreditation renewal during the third quarter of 2009, according to the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. A total of 174 transplant programs are now FACT accredited.
New cord blood standards arriving in January
The fourth edition of the NetCord-FACT Cord Blood Standards will be published in January, along with related accreditation manual, inspection checklist, document checklist and “crosswalk” to the third edition. Banks applying for or renewing accreditation under the third edition must submit checklists by Dec. 31 and be inspected before the new standards take effect on March 31.
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 November, annual dues are waived for new trainees who apply for membership in the Society.
|
| |
|
