Hematology News and Research

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Hematology, also spelled haematology, is the branch of biology (physiology), pathology, clinical laboratory, internal medicine, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases. Hematology includes the study of etiology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention of blood diseases.

Antigens produced by the Epstein Barr virus may provide an ideal target for cancer therapy

A typically innocuous virus found in 90 percent of people worldwide is the key to a new treatment for a cancer particularly common in North Africa and Southeast Asia.

16 Feb 2005

Green tea extract has potential as an anti-cancer agent

A new study on bladder cancer cells lines shows that green tea extract has potential as an anti-cancer agent, proving for the first time that it is able to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

15 Feb 2005

Clot-dissolving drugs such as tPA may help detect potentially deadly leg clots

A possible diagnostic use for clot-dissolving drugs such as tPA has been found by Medical College of Georgia researchers working to improve a test that identifies potentially deadly blood clots in the legs.

14 Feb 2005

Origins of skin cancer melanoma

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found an important clue about the origins of the deadly skin cancer melanoma.

7 Feb 2005

Cord blood transplantation now a viable option for adult leukemia patients

Stem cell transplantation using umbilical cord blood is a standard treatment option for blood disorders in children, but not for adults, due to the difficulty of obtaining a sufficiently large dose of cells.

20 Jan 2005

Researchers to test new leukemia drug

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a malignant cancer of the blood that affects people of all ages. While treatment is available for most of these patients, approximately 20 percent of them do not respond to it. Researchers at McGill teaching hospitals will soon study the effects of a new alternative therapy.

12 Jan 2005

Velcade (bortezomib) phase III clinical trial initiated in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma

Millennium Pharmaceuticals today announced, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, LLC, the initiation of VISTA (Velcadeas Initial Standard Therapy in multiple myeloma: Assessment with melphalan and prednisone), a multicenter, international phase III clinical trial of Velcadein combination with melphalan and prednisone versus melphalan and prednisone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) who are not transplant candidates.

10 Jan 2005

Potential cure for lymphoma in HIV patients

Stem cell transplants have become the standard of care for patients with relapsed lymphoma, but not for patients who suffer from both this disease and HIV.

7 Jan 2005

First assessment tool to evaluate Quebec Platelet Disorder (QPD)

Researchers at McMaster University have developed the first assessment tool of its kind for evaluating risks faced by Canadians suffering from a rare and often fatal bleeding disorder.

22 Dec 2004

Dramatic changes in the way the FDA address patient safety are needed

Food and Drug Administration policies prevent pharmaceutical manufacturers from informing patients about potentially fatal toxicities that occur with some cancer drugs -- policies that should be revised immediately, according to Northwestern University researchers.

20 Dec 2004

Link found between bisphosphonates and a serious bone disease called osteonecrosis of the jaw

Doctors at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center recently discovered a link between a common chemotherapy drug and a serious bone disease called osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ).

13 Dec 2004

Zarnestra, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor, can help treat high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome patients

An oral targeted therapy gentle enough to be used by patients in their 70s or 80s is showing benefit in treating high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a pre-leukemic disorder that can progress to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

7 Dec 2004

Revlimid clinical data in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma presented

Celgene Corporation announced today that data evaluating clinical results on Revlimid (lenalidomide) as a new therapeutic approach for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) was presented at the American Society of Hematology 46th Annual Meeting in San Diego.

7 Dec 2004

Combination of thalidomide and dexamethasone may be a promising treatment for multiple myeloma

The combination of two pills -- thalidomide and dexamethasone -- may be an effective alternative to the intravenous chemotherapy commonly prescribed to patients with multiple myeloma, according to a large collaborative study conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and led by a Mayo Clinic investigator.

7 Dec 2004

New clues in understanding why group A streptococci (GAS) has a range of bacterial afflictions in humans

Researchers have unlocked new clues in understanding why group A streptococci (GAS) has a range of bacterial afflictions in humans. One of the keys to this species of bacteria is its production of streptokinase (SK), an enzyme that activates plasminogen, the blood clot-dissolving protein in humans.

6 Dec 2004

New insight into anticoagulation therapies

Anticoagulation therapies, or treatments that reduce the amount of clotting factors in the blood, are quite common and used for a variety of reasons.

6 Dec 2004

Novel mutagenesis screen used to identify genetic suppressors of thrombosis

Researchers using a novel sensitized ENU (N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, a carcinogen-induced animal tumor model established to grow malignant and benign tumors) mutagenesis (induction of mutation) screen in laboratory mice have developed a promising approach to genetic screening that can increase the likelihood of identifying dominant suppressors of thrombosis.

6 Dec 2004

Thalidomide shows promise in fighting myeloma

Thalidomide, a drug often used to treat symptoms of leprosy and in testing to fight HIV, is now demonstrating activity in fighting a common cancer that occurs in bone marrow, myeloma.

6 Dec 2004

New advances in sickle cell disease

Excruciating pain episodes, recurrent pneumonias, strokes, severe infections, chronic hemolytic anemia, and secondary pulmonary hypertension are common complications of sickle cell disease, a life-threatening inherited defect in blood that causes normally disc-shaped red blood cells to take on a sickle shape.

6 Dec 2004

Children with sickle cell disease who are at risk for a stroke need ongoing blood transfusions to reduce their risk

“This important study shows the value of continuing periodic blood transfusions in preventing the serious and debilitating consequences of stroke,” says NHLBI Acting Director Barbara Alving. “At the same time, there are risks of chronic transfusions and the decision to continue with this treatment must be made on a case-by-case basis.”

6 Dec 2004