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News and Treatment Updates

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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.

Discovery in human acute myeloid leukemia could provide novel pathway to new treatments

Originally Published: 06/02/2020
Researchers at Mount Sinai have discovered that human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem cells are dependent on a transcription factor known as RUNX1, potentially providing a new therapeutic target to achieve lasting remissions or even cures for a disease in which medical advances have been limited. (continued at link)

Being a Caregiver for a Patient with Cancer During Quarantine

Originally Published: 05/26/2020
During a recent webinar on COVID-19 that focused on caregivers for patients with cancer, Shera Dubitsky, MEd, MA, Senior Advisor to Sharsheret’s Medical Advisory Board, addressed the topic of traversing the uncharted territory of COVID-19, focusing on caregivers and family members of women with breast or ovarian cancer. “These are very unprecedented times, and we understand the challenge,” said Executive Director Elana Silber, MBA, explaining that Sharsheret’s longtime model is one of remote support.

SF3B1 Variant in MDS Found to Identify Distinct Disease Entities

Originally Published: 05/17/2020
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
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
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
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)

Common Questions and Answers About COVID-19 for Older Adults and People with Chronic Health Conditions

Originally Published: 04/04/2020
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
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
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...

Coronavirus: What People with Cancer Should Know

Originally Published: 03/23/2020
Coronavirus: What People with Cancer Should Know ON THIS PAGE What is coronavirus, or COVID-19? If I have cancer, am I at higher risk of getting or dying from COVID-19? If I have cancer, how can I protect myself? I receive cancer treatment at a medical facility. What should I do about getting treatment? I participate in a clinical trial at a medical facility. What should I do? What should I do if I have symptoms of an infection? (All content continues at the link)