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.

New Strategies Improve Outcomes for Lower-Risk MDS

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Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a challenging and complicated disease with median outcomes ranging from 5.3 years in patients with lower-risk disease to just 8.4 months in the very high-risk population. 1,2 However, newly approved agents entering the armamentarium are providing…

Beat AML Master Clinical Trial Showcases Paradigm Shift With Precision Medicine

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Delaying treatment for up to 7 days so that genomic data can be utilized to inform a personalized treatment approach is safe, feasible, and can improve overall survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. John C. Byrd, MD Delaying treatment for up to 7 days so that genomic…

Fresh vs. frozen allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell grafts: A successful timely option

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Cryopreservation of grafts has been established in autologous and cord blood transplantation, yet there is little experience regarding the effect of cryopreservation with sibling and unrelated grafts. We evaluated the effect of cryopreservation of grafts on allogeneic transplant…

Does Cancer Chemotherapy Increase My Covid Risks?

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By Mikkael A. Sekeres, M.D. Oct. 7, 2020 Q. I have cancer and am being treated with chemotherapy. Am I at increased risk of getting sick and dying from Covid-19? A. People with cancer, and particularly those with leukemia, seem to have a higher death rate from Covid-19 than the…

Rogue Antibodies and Gene Mutations Explain Some Cases of Severe COVID-19

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One of the many perplexing issues with COVID-19 is that it affects people so differently. That has researchers trying to explain why some folks bounce right back from the virus, or don’t even know they have it—while others become critically ill. Now, two NIH-funded studies…

Treatment Approaches in AML: Key Testing for Personalized Care

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VIDEO Description: Treatment Approaches in AML: Key Testing for Personalized Care from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo. When it comes to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), genetic testing (or biomarker testing) is essential in helping to determine the best treatment approach for…

Researchers describe impact of SF3B1 mutations in myelodysplastic syndrome

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SF3B1 mutations occurred more frequently in de novo myelodysplastic syndromes than therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome, according to results of a phase 2 study presented at Society of Hematologic Oncology Annual Meeting. Additionally, SF3B1 mutations appeared associated with…

Talati Highlights “Game-Changing” Potential of Venetoclax/HMA Combos for Elderly AML

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Chetasi Talati, MD, discusses early results from a multicenter chart review examining treatment patterns and outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed AML who received venetoclax/HMA combinations in the real-world setting and the next phase of the ongoing research initiative…

FDA approves Onureg (azacitidine tablets) for acute myeloid leukemia

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On September 1, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration approved azacitidine tablets (ONUREG®, Celgene Corporation) for continued treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia who achieved first complete remission (CR) or complete remission with incomplete blood count recovery…

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