Bone Marrow Transplantation News

The board of directors for World Conference on Interventional Oncology, a nonprofit association that supports and promotes the field, has established a society to further its mission.

National Cancer Prevention Month, established by a U.S. Senate resolution and observed every February since 2004, is intended to draw attention to the fact that approximately 70% of malignancies may be prevented through diet or other lifestyle changes.

Click here to read the Cover Story, “Hem/oncs toe ‘line in the sand’ between quest for cure, overly aggressive end-of-life care’.”

Patients with hematologic malignancies are significantly more likely than those with solid tumors to receive chemotherapy or spend time in the hospital during their final month of life.

Jeff Vacirca, MD, FACP, CEO and managing director of clinical research at New York Cancer Specialists in Long Island, N.Y., has been elected president of Community Oncology Alliance for the 2017-2018 term.

Analysis of genetic mutations in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome at the time of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may help predict outcomes and identify subgroups of patients who will derive the most benefit from particular conditioning regimens, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Physicians’ willingness to communicate with patients about the cost of cancer care appeared associated with improved patient satisfaction and lower out-of-pocket expenses.

Preclinical studies in mouse models showed that genetically modified donor T cells with a chimeric antigen receptor that recognizes CD19 (CD19-CAR) may have anti-tumor activity in recipients of an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant without developing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

World Cancer Day — which will be observed today — was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control to raise awareness of cancer, and to emphasize the importance of prevention, detection and treatment.

Stephen Gottschalk, MD, has been appointed chair of the department of bone marrow transplantation and cellular therapy at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.