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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.

Certain Patients With Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Acute Leukemia at Higher Risk of Severe COVID-19 Illness

Originally Published: 12/14/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and neutropenia were both found to be strong, independent predictors of severe COVID-19 illness in patients with acute leukemia or MDS who developed COVID-19, according to data from the American Society of Hematology (ASH) RC COVID-19 Registry for Hematology presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition 2021. However, active disease alone for hospitalized patients was not associated with greater odds of dying from COVID-19, nor was receiving ongoing cancer treatment, according to the study. The analysis included data from 135 patients with acute myeloid...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes New Long-Acting Monoclonal Antibodies for Pre-exposure Prevention of COVID-19 in Certain Individuals

Originally Published: 12/08/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for AstraZeneca’s Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab and administered together) for the pre-exposure prophylaxis (prevention) of COVID-19 in certain adults and pediatric individuals (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms [about 88 pounds]).  The product is only authorized for those individuals who are not currently infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and who have not recently been exposed to an individual infected with SARS-CoV-2. The authorization also requires that...

mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination Sparks Strong Antibody Response in Patients With AML and MDS

Originally Published: 11/30/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
The mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Are Safe and Effective for Most Patients with Cancer For most patients with cancer, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. This article explains the results of the first study that evaluated the safety and effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines in patients with solid cancers, such as lung, breast, or prostate cancer. November 2021 – Lung Cancer Laura Morgan The recent death of Colin L. Powell in October 2021 from COVID-19 complications led to a flurry of questions and misinformation. Although he received 2 shots of an mRNA vaccine, people ignored the...

FDA Approves First Treatment for Common Type of Post-Transplant Infection that is Resistant to Other Drugs

Originally Published: 11/23/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
For Immediate Release: November 23, 2021   Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Livtencity (maribavir) as the first drug for treating adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older and weighing at least 35 kilograms) with post-transplant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection/disease that does not respond (with or without genetic mutations that cause resistance) to available antiviral treatment for CMV. Livtencity works by preventing the activity of human cytomegalovirus enzyme pUL97, thus blocking virus replication. (Please follow the link to the complete article.)

Cost-effectiveness analysis of oral azacitidine maintenance therapy in acute myeloid leukemia

Originally Published: 11/18/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
TO THE EDITOR: Maintenance therapy in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after induction and consolidation chemotherapy has been studied for more than 2 decades.1  No randomized trial had shown an overall survival (OS) benefit compared with observation until the recent QUAZAR AML-001 trial of oral azacitidine.2  The QUAZAR AML-001 trial randomized 472 patients with transplant-ineligible AML ≥ 55 years of age, who were in complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete count recovery after induction and/or consolidation therapy, to maintenance therapy with oral azacitidine or placebo.2  Oral...

Blood and marrow transplants (BMT) help people with advanced myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

Originally Published: 11/10/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
Not enough people have access to life-saving transplant Although BMT is the only known cure for MDS, many people aren’t aware of BMT or think that they’re too old to have one because of its side effects.  Using smaller doses of therapy with BMT have made it safer. Now a new study of 400 older adults, aged 50 to 75, suggests that this type of BMT, along with a matched donor, helps people with advanced MDS live longer with a similar quality of life. (Please follow link above for complete article)

MDS Update Q3 2021

Originally Published: 10/29/2021
Article Source: MDS Update

Comparison Between 5-Azacytidine Treatment and Allogeneic Stem-Cell Transplantation in Elderly Patients With Advanced MDS According to Donor Availability (VidazaAllo Study)

Originally Published: 10/20/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
PURPOSE In contrast to 5-azacytidine (5-aza), allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) represents a curative treatment strategy for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), but therapy-related mortality (TRM) limits its broader use in elderly patients with MDS. The present prospective multicenter study compared HSCT following 5-aza pretreatment with continuous 5-aza treatment in patients with higher-risk MDS age 55-70 years. METHODS One hundred ninety patients with a median age of 63 years were enrolled. Patients received 4-6 cycles of 5-aza followed by HLA-compatible HSCT after...

Hematologic complications of immune checkpoint inhibitors

Originally Published: 10/05/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a class of anti-neoplastic therapies that unleash immune cells to kill malignant cells. There are currently 7 medications FDA-approved for the treatment of 14 solid tumors and 2 hematological malignancies. These medications commonly cause immune-related adverse effects due to overactive T lymphocytes, autoantibody production, and/or cytokine dysregulation. Hematological toxicities are rare and of uncertain mechanism, and therefore management is often based on experiences with familiar conditions involving these perturbed immune responses, such as autoimmune...

Scientists discover novel therapeutic strategy for FLT3-ITD-positive acute myeloid leukemia

Originally Published: 09/27/2021
Article Source: External Web Content
A new type of targeting chaperon protein HSP70 inhibitor QL47 was recently discovered by a team led by Prof. LIU Qingsong from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to treat FLT3-ITD-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Their findings have been published on Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. What we are seeking is a new therapeutic strategy which imperative for FLT3-ITD-positive AML." - Hu Chen, Study's Lead Author Approximately, 25% of AMLs carry FLT3-ITD (internal tandem duplication) oncogenic mutations, and FLT3 kinase inhibitors have...