Articles related to Hematology/Oncology

The inaugural report of the ASH Research Collaborative (RC) COVID-19 Registry for Hematology, published in Blood Advances, is based on an analysis of the first 250 patients with both hematologic malignancy and COVID-19 registered from 74 countries. The analysis showed that the mortality risk (28% overall and increased to 42% among hospitalized patients with COVID-19) was heterogenous and unpredictable, further challenging doctors when allocating resources and determining which patients receive intensive care.

This is the third edition of the guidelines – the last coming in 2014 – providing a resource and guidance specifically for primary care practitioners about how to plan care for childhood cancer survivors. “A care plan just really encourages coordination, especially if a child has a very complicated post-cancer treatment history with a lot of morbidity,” said Dr. Melissa Hudson, director of the division of cancer survivorship at St. Jude’s and corresponding author of the new guidelines.

Publication: The LancetDesign: Open-label, single-arm study of 157 patients who had undergone a median of six previous lines of therapy and who received at least one dose of teclistamab; 40 patients received the recommended phase II dose of teclistamabResults: Of the 40 receiving the phase II dose, 58% achieved a very good partial response or better; 40% achieved a complete response or better

About 75% to 80% of children with pediatric AML have clonal, acquired, somatic cytogenetic abnormalities (CAs) detected. Hematology Advisor briefs the information originally appearing in Genes, which reviews the current knowledge on evaluating pediatric patients based on cytogenetics and molecular subtypes to help match patients to risk-adapted therapies.

Publication: Blood AdvancesStudy Design: Prospective study with unmatched health care workforce control group, receiving either Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccination.Study Population: 23 patients with CLL (61%), lymphoma (39%) (including DLBCL), MCL (13%) and 4% with less common lymphomas.Outcome: Lymphoma patients had significantly lower anti-S IgG titers 28 days post-vaccination compared with controls. Related Article: Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients with B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

An oncologist pens an essay about his 10-year-old son who died in March 2021 from diffuse midline glioma, providing a glimpse into his own extreme truths about the burden he carries in treating cancer patients.