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.
Jane Biehl: Moving Slower and Slower After Myelodysplastic Syndrome
Originally Published: 02/12/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
I have honestly been frustrated lately. I am slowing down increasingly, and it has even become noticeable to others. I wrote an article in November about how nice it was to slow down and smell the roses. But now it seems like too much.
In my previous life (before cancer), I moved steadily and effortlessly from working all day to classes at night. I could hurry up by running late and still be on time. Now, I am frequently late to meetings with friends, church and even appointments. I finally realized that I was miscalculating how long it would take me to get dressed and out the door. When I...
Genome sequencing in the management of myelodysplastic syndromes and related disorders
Originally Published: 02/11/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Abstract
Myeloid neoplasms originate from the clonal proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells, which is driven by the acquisition of somatic genetic mutations. Within these disorders, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are specifically characterized by morphological abnormalities (dysplasia) and impaired maturation of myeloid precursors (ineffective hematopoiesis), resulting in peripheral blood cytopenia. Several studies have advanced the field of MDS, with a few landmark papers leading to a paradigm shift, opening new avenues of research and enabling a molecular revolution. These seminal...
Diagnosis of TP53-mutated myeloid disease by the ICC and WHO fifth edition classifications
Originally Published: 01/29/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Key Points
The ICC and WHO5 differently classify 64% of TP53-mutated disease due to distinct criteria for multihit TP53 mutations and TP53-mutated AML.
MDS with a single TP53 mutation and CK is similar to MDS with biallelic TP53 abnormalities, whereas TP53-mutated AML is distinct from AML-MR.
Find full article at link.
Life After MDS and Accomplishing Your Goals
Originally Published: 01/28/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Several years ago, I wrote an emotionally difficult article titled "Will I Reach My Goal?" It was about a book I was writing. The book describes my life and what it was like being hard of hearing in the 60s and 70s without any support in the schools. It covers my experiences within the deaf community and how difficult it was when I lost more hearing from chemotherapy. I wanted to tell my unique story and considered this my legacy.
When diagnosed in 2010, I was given approximately 104 months to live. Miraculously, more treatments became available, and I lived longer than anticipated. I hoped...
The Fit Older Adult with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Clinical Challenges to Providing Evidence-Based Frontline Treatment
Originally Published: 01/24/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Recent advances in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) come from studies investigating younger (age<60 years) adults or older (age≥75 years) or less fit adults. Uncertainty exists for the management of otherwise healthy adults with AML in their 60s and 70s, which also represents a significant proportion of AML cases. We discuss current considerations in older, fit adults with AML including determination of fitness, what factors beyond fitness should be assessed, and finally what challenges and innovations lie ahead to improve outcomes for these patients.
Full pdf available at link.
Venetoclax-based salvage therapy as a bridge to transplant is feasible and effective in patients with relapsed/refractory AML
Originally Published: 01/17/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Key Points
VEN plus HMA induces superior response rates in patients with R/R AML than conventional salvage therapy.
The VEN plus HMA combination allows for a safe and effective bridging to allo-HCT.
Abstract
The B-cell lymphoma 2 inhibitor venetoclax (VEN) in combination with hypomethylating agents has been approved for first-line treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) ineligible for intensive treatment. VEN-containing treatment strategies may also be effective in relapsed/refractory (R/R) AML; however, comparative studies with conventional therapies for fit patients as a...
Drug in clinical trials for breast cancer could also treat some blood cancers
Originally Published: 01/16/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Two new studies led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a possible way to block the progression of several forms of blood cancer using a drug already in clinical trials against breast cancer.
The studies — both conducted in patient samples and animal models — found that inhibiting a protein called RSK1 reduces inflammation and stops the progression of blood cancers called myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) as well as an aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). With the RSK1 inhibitor already in clinical testing, the path to...
FDA Approves Axatilimab in 9 Mg and 22 Mg Vial Sizes for GVHD
Originally Published: 01/16/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Axatilimab-csfr (Niktimvo), a CSF-1R–targeting agent that reduces the drivers of inflammation and fibrosis, has been approved by the FDA in 9 mg and 22 mg vial sizes to treat adult and pediatric patients with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), according to a news release from the drug’s developers, Incyte and Syndax Pharmacueticals.1 Furthermore, the developers expect that the product will be available for order in the United States in early February 2025.
The FDA approved axatilimab for patients who weigh at least 40 kg with chronic GVHD after progression on at least 2 prior lines of...
How I Treat Higher-Risk MDS with Alain Mina, Rami S. Komrokji
Originally Published: 01/14/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
Myelodysplastic syndromes/neoplasms (MDS) are a widely heterogenous group of myeloid malignancies characterized by morphologic dysplasia, a defective hematopoiesis, and recurrent genetic abnormalities. The original and revised International Prognostic Scoring Systems (IPSS) have been used to risk-stratify patients with MDS to guide treatment strategies. In higher-risk MDS, the therapeutic approach is geared toward delaying leukemic transformation and prolonging survival. For over a decade, the hypomethylating agents azacitidine and decitabine have been the standard of care and, when feasible...
Iron accelerates MDS progression
Originally Published: 01/09/2025
Article Source: External Web Content
In this issue of Blood, Antypiuk et al, utilizing a murine model, demonstrate that iron overload (IOL), accumulated via a mutation in the iron importer ferroportin, accelerates the myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) phenotype, leading to exacerbation of marrow failure, inferior leukemia-free survival, and inferior overall survival (OS).1 Conversely, blocking iron uptake with vamifeport (VIT) reverses these effects, resulting in improved erythropoiesis, superior leukemia-free survival, and superior OS (see figure). Finally, the addition of luspatercept to VIT had an additive beneficial effect on...