Public release date: 26-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Angela Collom acollom@acponline.org 215-351-2653 American College of Physicians Philadelphia, March 27, 2012 AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks) recommends a restrictive red blood cell transfusion strategy for stable adults and children, according to new guidelines being published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Physicians should consider transfusing at a hemoglobin threshold of 7 to 8 g/dL, as the evidence shows no difference in mortality, ability to walk independently, or length of hospital stay between patients on a liberal transfusion strategy or a restrictive strategy. Wide variability in the use of transfusions in the United States indicates that in many settings patients are receiving unnecessary transfusions. Our recommendation is based on the evidence that restrictive transfusion is safe and associated with less blood use, said Jeffrey L. Carson, MD, Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, and lead author of the guideline. Of course, clinical judgment is critical. Physicians may choose to transfuse above or below the specified hemoglobin threshold based on individual patient characteristics. A 20-member panel of experts based their assessment on a systematic review … Continue reading →

Nature | Health A Monsignor and Officer for Studies at the Pontifical Academy for Life called the cancellation a "sad event." Attendees are set to receive an official explanation March 26, 2012| By Ewen Callaway of Nature magazine The Vatican has abruptly cancelled a controversial stem-cell conference that was set to be attended by the Pope next month. The Third International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research, scheduled for 25-28 April, was to focus on clinical applications of adult and reprogrammed stem cells. But a number of the invited speakers, including Alan Trounson, president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine in San Francisco, and keynote speaker George Daley, a stem-cell scientist at Children's Hospital Boston in Massachusetts, are involved in research using human embryonic stem cells, which the Catholic Church considers unethical. The previous two congresses had also included scientists who worked on such cells, without generating much controversy. Father Scott Borgman, secretary of the Church's Pontifical Academy for Life, one of the conference organizers, says that logistical, organizational and financial factors forced the cancellation, which was announced on 23 March. The academy weighs in on bioethical and theological issues that are relevant to Church teachings. The Catholic News … Continue reading →

SEATTLE, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) (NASDAQ and MTA: CTIC) announced that the University of Washington's ("UW") School of Medicine, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Division of Neuro-Oncology has begun enrolling patients in a randomized phase II clinical study comparing the combination of OPAXIO (paclitaxel poliglumex, PPX, CT-2103) and radiation therapy ("RT") to the combination of temozolomide ("TMZ") and RT for patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme ("GBM"), which is a poor-prognosis high-grade malignant brain tumor with an active gene called MGMT. MGMT is active in more than half of patients with glioblastoma and it substantially decreases the effectiveness of standard therapy with TMZ. This study is a multicenter trial initiated and led by the Neuro-Oncology department of the Brown University Oncology Research Group ("BrUOG") in Providence, Rhode Island. The first patient at UW recently has been enrolled. Dr. Maciej Mrugala, Associate Professor of Neurology, Neurological Surgery and Medicine at UW's School Of Medicine and Affiliate Investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is leading the study at the UW site. "Patients with glioblastomas are rarely cured, although current standard therapy with RT and TMZ has been shown to prolong survival. A Phase I/II study of paclitaxel … Continue reading →

SEATTLE, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) (NASDAQ and MTA: CTIC) announced that the University of Washington's ("UW") School of Medicine, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Division of Neuro-Oncology has begun enrolling patients in a randomized phase II clinical study comparing the combination of OPAXIO (paclitaxel poliglumex, PPX, CT-2103) and radiation therapy ("RT") to the combination of temozolomide ("TMZ") and RT for patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme ("GBM"), which is a poor-prognosis high-grade malignant brain tumor with an active gene called MGMT. MGMT is active in more than half of patients with glioblastoma and it substantially decreases the effectiveness of standard therapy with TMZ. This study is a multicenter trial initiated and led by the Neuro-Oncology department of the Brown University Oncology Research Group ("BrUOG") in Providence, Rhode Island. The first patient at UW recently has been enrolled. Dr. Maciej Mrugala, Associate Professor of Neurology, Neurological Surgery and Medicine at UW's School Of Medicine and Affiliate Investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is leading the study at the UW site. "Patients with glioblastomas are rarely cured, although current standard therapy with RT and TMZ has been shown to prolong survival. A Phase I/II study of paclitaxel … Continue reading →