Andrew E. Place, MD, PhD appointed as Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Vice President, Pediatric Chief Medical Officer

Andrew E. Place, MD, PhD, has been named as Vice President, Pediatric Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (within the Department of Pediatric Oncology) and Boston Children’s Hospital (within the Division of Hematology/Oncology) for the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

CHOP Researchers Improve Fitness of Cells Used in Cell Transplants

A readily available, inexpensive small molecule drug can improve the fitness of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) that are modified outside of the body, potentially improving the success of procedures like ex vivo gene therapy, according to a new study by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

CHOP Researchers Develop Tool that Reduces Errors in Stem Cell Transplant Reporting

Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a custom-built application to automate determination of engraftment, a key outcome after hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). The application supersedes a tedious manual process and at the same time substantially improves accuracy of reported hematopoietic cell transplant engraftments.

Triple-drug therapy for post-transplant management of multiple myeloma

Promising results from an ongoing clinical trial a three-drug treatment may improve survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who have undergone preliminary treatment followed by a stem cell transplant.

UChicago Medicine earns high marks for stem cell transplant survival rates

New data show the University of Chicago Medicine’s David and Etta Jonas Center for Cellular Therapy has the highest one-year survival rate in Illinois for adults undergoing blood and bone marrow stem cell transplants. UChicago Medicine had an 80% one-year survival rate among adult stem cell patients, according to the latest statistics released in mid-December by the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).

A Leading-Edge Lymphoma Program

Less than three years after joining the Cedars-Sinai Cancer faculty, hematologist-oncologists Justin Darrah, MD, and Akil Merchant, MD, are pioneering new research and bringing a new, comprehensive set of treatment options to patients in the recently established Lymphoma Program.

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants May Provide Long-Term Benefit for People with MS

A new study shows that intense immunosuppression followed by a hematopoietic stem cell transplant may prevent disability associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) from getting worse in 71% of people with relapsing-remitting MS for up to 10 years after the treatment. The research is published in the January 20, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found that in some people their disability improved over 10 years after treatment. Additionally, more than half of the people with the secondary progressive form of MS experienced no worsening of their symptoms 10 years after a transplant.

Study reveals surprising benefit of clonal hematopoiesis in allogeneic transplants

Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is a recently identified condition in which mutations associated with blood cancers are detected in the blood of some healthy, usually older, individuals who don’t have cancer. People with CH, while asymptomatic, have an elevated risk of developing blood cancers and other negative health outcomes, including heart attacks and strokes.

Donor stem cell transplant shown to improve survival in older patients with myelodysplastic syndrome

A new clinical trial offers the most compelling evidence to date that a donor stem cell transplant can improve survival rates for older patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators report at the virtual 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.

Dana-Farber to present more than 40 research studies at 2020 ASH Annual Meeting

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers will present more than 40 research studies at the virtual 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting on December 5-8, including two studies that were selected for inclusion in the official press program.

Roswell Park Study: Delaying Antiviral Treatment May Boost Immunity in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients

Patients who develop cytomegalovirus infections after allogeneic stem cell transplantation may be able to develop an immunity against the virus, strengthen their immune system and reduce reliance on strong antiviral medications, a team from Roswell Park reports in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Memorial Sloan Kettering – Hackensack Meridian Health Partnership Announces Funding for Inaugural Immunology Research Collaboration Projects

The Memorial Sloan Kettering – Hackensack Meridian Health Partnership has formed an Immunology Research Collaboration, through which researchers can apply for funding to support innovative investigations to explore the power of the immune system and ways it may be harnessed to fight cancer. Three researchers’ projects were selected in 2020 for funding support.

Mutations in donors’ stem cells may cause problems for cancer patients

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that extremely rare, harmful genetic mutations present in healthy donors’ stem cells — though not causing health problems in the donors — may be passed on to cancer patients receiving stem cell transplants, potentially creating health problems for the recipients. Among the concerns are heart damage, graft-versus-host disease and possible new leukemias.

Treatment with PD-1 inhibitor prior to stem cell transplant is safe, effective for patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma, study finds

A new analysis shows that a donor stem cell transplant following treatment with an immune checkpoint inhibitor is generally safe and produces good outcomes for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

Use of venetoclax in reduced-intensity transplant conditioning regimen in patients with high-risk myeloid cancers shows promise in early trial

For patients with high-risk myeloid cancers undergoing a donor stem cell transplant, adding the targeted drug venetoclax to a reduced-intensity drug regimen prior to transplant is safe and does not impair the ability of the donor cells to take root in recipients’ bodies, a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers suggests.

Genomic features of AML in patients over age 60 can predict success of bone marrow stem cell transplant, research shows

For older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the prospects for success of a stem cell transplant can often be predicted based on the particular set of genetic mutations within the tumor cells, investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other research centers will report today at the ASH Annual Meeting.