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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.

TP53-Mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Blast Phase Myeloproliferative Neoplasm: Distinct Mutation Leads to Poorer Prognosis

Originally Published: 03/28/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
ABSTRACT Patients with TP53 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and blast phase myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN-BP) experience similar poor clinical outcomes. A retrospective analysis of 39 patients with TP53 mutations (23 with AML and 16 with MPN-BP) revealed comparable mutation patterns associated with prognostic significance. A total of 47 distinct TP53 mutations were identified, including seven patients with multiple mutations. Based on clinical outcomes, we propose a two-tiered risk stratification for TP53-mutated AML and MPN-BP. The high-risk group mutations, such as splice...

Venetoclax and azacitidine in untreated patients with therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia, antecedent myelodysplastic syndromes or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

Originally Published: 03/28/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Dear Editor, Secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML), a subset of AML, may arise from antecedent hematologic disorders (antecedent myelodysplastic syndrome or chronic myelomonocytic leukemia [A-MDS/CMML]) or complication of prior cytotoxic chemotherapy or radiation therapy (therapy-related AML [tAML]) [1]. It comprises about 25% to 35% of AML cases, occurring more frequently with age [2]. Rising incidence of sAML is potentially related to increased survival from prior malignancies, greater use of chemotherapy, and improved reporting of myeloid malignancies [2]. sAML is frequently associated...

How I treat secondary acute myeloid leukemia

Originally Published: 03/20/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Abstract Secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML) has traditionally been used to designate any AML disease arising from an antecedent hematologic disorder or after prior cytotoxic or radiation therapy. We now know sAML comprises multiple disease entities with distinct clinical and biological features: AML, myelodysplastic related; myeloproliferative neoplasm-blast phase; and AML post–cytotoxic therapy. These entities largely represent adverse-risk phenotypes with the majority of patients experiencing suboptimal outcomes with standard therapeutic options. Given the aging general population and...

How I use maintenance therapy in acute myeloid leukemia

Originally Published: 03/20/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Abstract Outcomes for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have improved significantly in the past decade with the approval of novel therapeutics targeting diverse vulnerabilities of leukemic cells, expanded access to stem cell transplantation, and improved safety of transplantation. Although attainment of initial remission is now an expected outcome in most patients with AML receiving intensive or nonintensive induction regimens, maintaining long-term remission and decreasing the risk of relapse remain critical challenges. Maintenance approaches using assorted agents have yielded variable success...

Efficacy and safety of venetoclax plus azacitidine for patients with treatment-naive high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes

Originally Published: 03/13/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Abstract Outcomes are poor in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (HR MDS) and frontline treatment options are limited. This phase 1b study investigated safety and efficacy of venetoclax, a selective B-cell lymphoma 2 inhibitor, at the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D; 400 mg for 14 days per 28-day cycle), in combination with azacitidine (75 mg/m2 for 7 days per 28-day cycle) for treatment-naive HR MDS. Safety was the primary outcome, and complete remission (CR) rate was the primary efficacy outcome. Secondary outcomes included rates of modified overall response (mOR),...

Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Myelodysplasia-Related Genetic Features: Relevance of the Genetic Underlying Category. A Retrospective Analysis on Behalf of the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the

Originally Published: 03/10/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
ABSTRACT Patients (pts) with myelodysplasia-related AML (MR-AML) are now genetically recategorized, with three different groups in the International Consensus Classification: AML with mutated TP53 (TP53-AML), with myelodysplasia-related gene mutations (MR-GM AML), and with myelodysplasia-related cytogenetic abnormalities (MR-CG AML). Moreover, TP53-AML is determined by the presence of an additional complex karyotype (TP53-mut CK and non-CK AML, respectively). Nonetheless, the relevance of this classification to transplantation outcomes is largely unknown. We analyzed the outcomes of pts....

Oppose 57% Cut to Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs

Originally Published: 03/10/2025
Article Source: Community Impact
Oppose 57% Cut to Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs  Take Action Before House Vote  Oppose 57% Cut to Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Tell your Members of Congress to Vote NO on The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 As early as this Tuesday, the House will be voting on a continuing resolution to fund government programs through the end of fiscal year 2025 (FY25). This legislation cuts FY25 funding for the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) from $1.509 billion to $650 million – a 57...

Real-World Outcomes of Relapsed/Refractory Core-Binding Factor Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A COMMAND Registry Study

Originally Published: 03/10/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
To the Editor, Core-binding factor acute myeloid leukemia (CBF-AML) is characterized by the presence of inv(16)/t(16;16) or t(8;21) and is classified as favorable risk by the 2022 European LeukemiaNet (ELN) guidelines [1]. We have previously reported on outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed CBF-AML treated with intensive chemotherapy (IC) regimens [2] and despite the favorable risk status, approximately 50% of patients experienced relapse. Prior analyses have shown limited survival after relapse [3-5]. Khan et al. reported on 92 patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) CBF-AML treated...

Standardization of Bone Marrow Reporting for Myelodysplastic Syndromes/Neoplasms on Behalf of the International Consortium for Myelodysplastic Syndromes/Neoplasms

Originally Published: 03/10/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Abstract Context.—: Standardized bone marrow reporting specifically for myelodysplastic syndromes/neoplasms (MDS) is currently lacking in the literature and much needed in practice. Objective.—: To propose a standardized approach to MDS evaluation in bone marrow specimens by (1) enhancing interinstitutional and intrainstitutional collaborations and clinical decision-making among hematopathologists and clinical hematologists and (2) allowing for efficient data extraction for clinical trials, institutional databases, and registry templates. This suggested approach is summarized in a modifiable...

How Our Lungs Back Up the Bone Marrow to Make Our Blood

Originally Published: 02/27/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
A study of human lung samples reveals a potent new source of hematopoietic stem cells, which make red blood cells, platelets and immune cells. By Levi Gadye Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to every other organ, and blood-forming stem cells must make about 200 billion new red blood cells each day to keep the oxygen flowing. For many years, scientists assumed that blood production took place in the bone marrow. But now, researchers at UC San Francisco are showing it’s also happening in the lungs. They found hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in human lung tissue that make red blood...