News and Treatment Updates
Here's where you'll find a regularly updated, broad range of articles written by the AAMDSIF team, allied health organizations and news organizations. By staying well-informed, patients and families are practicing a form of self-support that will help them be more effective self-advocates when engaging with health care providers.
SF3B1 Variant in MDS Found to Identify Distinct Disease Entities
Originally Published: 05/17/2020
Article Source: External Web Content
For the first time, an international working group of experts in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) proposed the recognition of the SF3B1 variant as a distinct nosologic entity based on the presence of a non-inheritable genetic mutation that causes the disease.1
SF3B1 mutation identifies a condition which is characterized by ring sideroblasts, ineffective erythropoiesis, and indolent clinical course.
The report, published in Blood, suggested that the mutation is found in approximately 1 in every 5 patients with MDS. About half of patients with MDS carry somatic mutations, and SF3B1 is the most...
Cancer and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)—Facing the “C Words”
Originally Published: 05/07/2020
Article Source: External Web Content
By Urvi A. Shah, MD from JAMA Oncology
Until now, most people feared a diagnosis with the dreaded “C word”—cancer—owing to its associated physical, emotional, and financial hardships as well as its social stigma. However, the rapid progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from a local issue to a global pandemic has quickly made it a competitor for the spot of the most feared disease, and rightly so, given the intense strain it is placing on us individually and as a society at every level. For me, having been diagnosed with both diseases 4 years apart, COVID-19 has brought back...
COVID-19 outcomes in patients with hematologic disease
Originally Published: 05/06/2020
Article Source: External Web Content
To the Editor:
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus of zoonotic origin that emerged in China at the end of 2019. The infection, named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), is now spreading worldwide. As of April 16, 2020, the virus had affected more than 2,000,000 individuals and resulted in over 125,000 deaths worldwide. Mortality can be as high as 15% in elderly patients, and/or in patients with comorbidities [1, 2]. Based on the current available data, the incubation period (time from exposure to symptom development) is estimated as between 2...
Haploidentical BMT for severe aplastic anemia with intensive GVHD prophylaxis including posttransplant cyclophosphamide
Originally Published: 04/28/2020
Article Source: External Web Content
Key Points
Bone marrow transplantation with posttransplantation CY in severe aplastic anemia results in rapid hematopoietic reconstitution.
Rates of graft-versus-host-disease-free survival in treatment-naïve and refractory disease compare very favorably to standard therapies.
(Continued at the link)
Defense Health Research Programs Relevance to National Security and Military Families
Originally Published: 04/14/2020
Article Source: Press Release
Information by research area for CDMRP grants included.
The Defense Health Research Consortium Letter to US House of Representatives with Co-signers
Originally Published: 04/14/2020
Article Source: Press Release
April 14, 2020
Dear Chairman Visclosky and Ranking Member Calvert:
As you continue your efforts to provide the investments needed to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, we thank you and encourage you to continue your support for the critical and highly successful defense health research programs funded through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DoD). Many of these programs are directly related to preparedness and response to global pandemics, while other equally important CDMRPs fund research to protect the men and women...
The Defense Health Research Consortium Letter to US Senate with Cosigners
Originally Published: 04/14/2020
Article Source: Press Release
April 14, 2020
Dear Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Durbin:
As you continue your efforts to provide the investments needed to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, we thank you and encourage you to continue your support for the critical and highly successful defense health research programs funded through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DoD). Many of these programs are directly related to preparedness and response to global pandemics, while other equally important CDMRPs fund research to protect the men and women...
Common Questions and Answers About COVID-19 for Older Adults and People with Chronic Health Conditions
Originally Published: 04/04/2020
Article Source: External Web Content
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in humans and can cause illnesses ranging from mild respiratory infections like the common cold to serious illnesses, such as pneumonia or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has now been detected in more than 100 countries, including the US.
Why are older adults and people with chronic health conditions at higher risk?
Older adults and people who have chronic medical conditions including heart disease, lung...
Against all odds: Unrelated stem cell transplants in coronavirus times
Originally Published: 03/27/2020
Article Source: External Web Content
The COVID-19 crisis has consequences not only for those who have become infected and the doctors and nurses who care for them. The care of other patients is also threatened by the increasing stress that national health systems and societies as a whole are under.
Also, cancer has no borders, and patients in need continue to need our help. Against all odds, we care for unrelated stem cell transplants in these difficult times. As chief medical officers of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and German-based DKMS, the two world’s largest volunteer bone marrow and blood stem cell donor...
Coronavirus 2019: What People With Cancer Need to Know
Originally Published: 03/25/2020
Article Source: External Web Content
Coronavirus 2019: What People With Cancer Need to Know
Merry Jennifer Markham, MD, FACP
March 25, 2020 · Merry Jennifer Markham, MD, FACP
This post is reviewed and updated every day. It was first published on March 3.
Merry Jennifer Markham, MD, FACP, is the Interim Chief of the University of Florida (UF) Division of Hematology & Oncology, an Associate Professor in the UF College of Medicine, and the Associate Director for Medical Affairs at the UF Health Cancer Center. She specializes in the treatment of gynecologic cancers. Dr. Markham is the chair of ASCO's Cancer Communications...