Blood Disorder News and Research

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Brazilian researchers propose new way for treating thalassemia major

Iron accumulation in myocardial cells, potentially resulting in heart failure or fatal arrhythmia, is one of the complications most feared by patients with thalassemia major, a hereditary disease also known as Mediterranean anemia.

7 Dec 2016

Maintaining healthy weight may be key to prevent MGUS progression to multiple myeloma

New research shows that excess weight increases the risk that a benign blood disorder will progress into multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood.

18 Nov 2016

Novel ‘gene therapy in a box’ could effectively deliver modified blood stem cells

A table-top device that enables medical staff to genetically manipulate a patient's blood to deliver potential new therapies for cancer, HIV and other diseases would eliminate the need for multi-million-dollar "clean rooms," making gene therapy more possible for even the poorest of countries.

24 Oct 2016

MSU experts pioneer pathways to new treatment options for pneumonia

Streptococcus pneumoniae likely is not a term immediately recognizable by most individuals, even if they have had unpleasant run-ins with the common bacterium. However, experts at Mississippi State University are pioneering pathways to new treatment options.

21 Sep 2016

Researchers identify biophysical markers that may help improve treatments for sickle cell disease

An interdisciplinary, international group of researchers has found new biophysical markers that could help improve the understanding of treatments for sickle cell disease, a step toward developing better methods for treating the inherited blood disorder that affects an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Americans each year.

8 Aug 2016

Sickle cell trait may not increase mortality risk

People who carry a gene for sickle cell disease do not appear to be at an increased risk of premature death, according to a study by researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine.

4 Aug 2016

Long-term opioid therapy may not be effective to manage pain in sickle cell disease patients

In a small study looking at pain assessments in adults with sickle cell disease, researchers at Johns Hopkins says overall, those treated long-term with opioids often fared worse in measures of pain, fatigue and curtailed daily activities than those not on long-term opioids.

21 Jun 2016

Researchers discover new function of genes in Fanconi anemia pathway

Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified an important new function of genes in the Fanconi anemia pathway - a finding that could have implications for development of new therapies to treat this disorder and some cancers.

3 May 2016

Kansas State researchers develop 3-D printed device that quickly detect anemia from blood

Identifying a blood disorder may be as easy as running a blood sample from a finger prick under a smartphone. That is the concept behind a new biomedical device being developed by Kansas State University researchers.

26 Feb 2016

Rigel begins fostamatinib Phase 2 trial for treatment of patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that it has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate fostamatinib, its oral SYK inhibitor, as a potential treatment for autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA).

25 Feb 2016

Patient enrollment completed in vepoloxamer Phase 3 study for treatment of sickle cell disease

Mast Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, clinical-stage therapies for sickle cell disease and heart failure today announced that it has completed patient enrollment in its Phase 3 clinical study of vepoloxamer for the treatment of patients with sickle cell disease experiencing vaso-occlusive crisis, known as the EPIC study.

22 Feb 2016

Novel gene therapy treatment proves safe, effective for factor VII deficiency

A single injection. That's all someone with a factor VII deficiency would need for a life-long cure, thanks to a new gene therapy treatment developed in a collaboration of researchers at the University of North Carolina and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

20 Jan 2016

Anthony Nolan introduces new tissue typing method that could revolutionise stem cell transplantation

Anthony Nolan has today launched a new tissue typing method that could significantly improve stem cell transplant outcomes.

8 Jan 2016

“Anemia and Hemoglobin Testing” guide published by EKF Diagnostics

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces the publication of its new guide, “Anemia and hemoglobin testing” .

From EKF Diagnostics 7 Jan 2016

Treatment with antiplatelet therapy does not reduce pain crises in children with sickle cell disease

Treatment with the antiplatelet agent prasugrel does not significantly reduce the rate of pain crises or severe lung complications in children with sickle cell disease, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine describing one of the largest and most geographically diverse international clinical trials on sickle cell disease to date.

9 Dec 2015

Experimental gene therapy may improve health outcomes for patients with some forms of blood disorders

New research adds to a growing body of evidence that gene therapy, an experimental technique that involves correcting or replacing a person's mutated or malfunctioning genes, may improve health outcomes for patients with inherited bleeding and immune disorders as well as some forms of blood cancer.

7 Dec 2015

Sickle cell disease treatment may help protect kidney function in patients

A drug used to treat sickle cell disease may provide an added benefit of protecting patients' kidney function, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

20 Nov 2015

Lab experiment leads researchers to major red blood cell discovery

A bizarre result of a routine lab experiment has led researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine to an unexpected new way to trigger the production of red blood cells. This could represent a significant step forward in the battle against anemia, benefitting people with diabetes, people with kidney disease or cancer, and older people for whom anemia can become a chronic problem.

3 Nov 2015

Researchers explain how incurable type of blood cancer develops

Researchers in the West Midlands have made a breakthrough in explaining how an incurable type of blood cancer develops from an often symptomless prior blood disorder. The findings could lead to more effective treatments and ways to identify those most at risk of developing the cancer.

18 Oct 2015

FDA approves Promacta to treat pediatric patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Promacta (eltrombopag) to treat low blood platelet count in pediatric patients – ages one year and older – with a rare blood disorder called chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Promacta can be used in these children when they have not achieved an appropriate response using other ITP medicines or surgery to remove the spleen.

9 Oct 2015