Fall 2007 - International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia ...

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PAGE 4 MEDICAL NEWS ROUNDUP by Sue Herms Ruling on Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Treatment by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services determined that erythropoiesis-stimulating treatment (Procrit, Aranesp, Epogen) is not reasonable and necessary for anemia of cancer, hemolysis, bleeding, bone marrow fibrosis, or various deficiencies related to iron, B-12, or folate. The treatment is considered reasonable and necessary for cancer patients if the anemia is secondary to chemotherapy treatment and the hemoglobin level is
Medical News, cont from page 4 in infection-related deaths and a higher rate of opportunistic infections in those patients who are also HIV positive. More Results on Zevalin and Bexxar – The Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minn., reviewed the results of four clinical trials involving the use of Zevalin at 30 U.S. medical centers for 211 patients with recurring or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Median overall survival was 49.3 months. The patients most likely to have long-term remission had nonbulky disease and achieved a complete response following treatment. The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center followed 76 follicular NHL patients after treatment with Bexxar. Eight years following therapy, 86% of patients were still alive and 50% had not had a relapse of their disease. Blood-Forming Stem Cells Produced from Fat Tissue – Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report that they have found a way to isolate and culture human blood-forming stem cells from fat tissue. The researchers are hoping that this might be a method of giving patients who need bone marrow transplantation their own blood-forming stem cells derived from a source other than their defective bone marrow. Faster Infusion Schedule for Rituximab in Canadian Study – The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, has developed a 90-minute infusion schedule for rituximab, in which 20% of the dose is administered in the first 30 minutes, and the remaining 80% over 60 minutes. The rituximab infusion is combined with corticosteroids for this protocol. Only one of 1200 patients receiving this infusion approach developed a serious reaction, and it was successfully managed. Nucleoside Analog Treatment Poses Increased Risk for Transformation to Aggressive Lymphoma or Leukemia – A presentation at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) concluded that there is an increased risk of transformation to aggressive B-cell lymphoma or development of myelodysplastic syndrome/ acute myelogenous leukemia (MDS/AML) following treatment with nucleoside analogs. A total of 326 patients were investigated, with 173 patients previously treated with nucleoside analogs and 153 patients treated with other chemotherapies. Among patients treated with nucleoside analogs, 10 (5.7%) developed either disease transformation or MDS/AML at a median time of 48 months following treatment; only one patient on other therapies experienced this complication. New Proteasome Inhibitor Used for Immune System Cancers – Another report from the 2007 Annual Meeting of ASCO by K. A. Stewart, et al., presented information on two Phase I dose studies of a new proteasome inhibitor named carfilzomib (PR-171). A total of 54 patients with multiple myeloma, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and WM are enrolled. Several responses have been observed with no peripheral neuropathy and only one dose-limiting toxicity. Canadian Study of Bortezomib for WM – The National Cancer Institute of Canada has reported the results of a Phase II study of bortezomib as a single agent treatment for 27 untreated or previously treated WM patients. Seventy-eight percent of these patients achieved at least a 25% reduction in IgM levels. The most common toxicity seen in this study was reversible peripheral neuropathy. The author gratefully acknowledges the efforts of Howard Prestwich, Bert Visheau, Mike Dewhirst, Gareth Evans, and Neil Schweer in disseminating news of interest to the WM community. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS By James Bunton 2007 Educational Forum DVDs We are very sorry about the lengthy delay in making available copies of the DVDs for the 2007 Educational Forum. Unfortunately, just as the preparation of the tapes was nearing completion, one of our volunteers had a complete wipe-out of his computer hard drive. This meant starting all over again and reloading from the raw tapes recorded at the forum, inserting the presenters’ slides, and editing the whole thing over again. This set back means the finished product will not be available until the middle of November. Once again our apologies for the inconvenience caused by this delay. Special skills Do you have a special skill or training? On occasion the trustees will consider initiating a new member service, or enhancing an existing one, but find they are inhibited in this by a lack of expertise in that area. We expect there are members with such expertise but do not know who they are. It was suggested that we would be better able to use volunteers if we had some idea of the special skills or training available among our members. Accordingly, we would like to build up an inventory of members with special skills or expertise and who would be willing to volunteer to help IWMF. Some of the areas that come quickly to mind are legal training, website administration, computer skills, fundraising and project management. If you are interested and have a skill you can volunteer, please send your name to the business office and I will be in touch with you with further information. PAGE 5
Page 1 and 2: iwmf torch Fall 2007 INTERNATIONAL
Page 3: President's Corner, cont from page
Page 7 and 8: Research Clinical Highlights, cont
Page 9 and 10: More Funds, More Research, cont fro
Page 11 and 12: FROM IWMF-TALK by Mitch Orfuss Over
Page 13 and 14: NEW ENGLAND (cont.) Western MA, VT
Page 15 and 16: Support Group News, cont from page
Page 17 and 18: SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY Howard P
Page 19 and 20: In memory of Harold Zfaney (cont.):

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