PRESS ACTIVITIES 12th CONGRESS

New Treatment Strategy for Immune System Cancer

An new study presented at the Congress of the European Hematology Association in Vienna (A) showed that survival rates are improved using intensive rather than conventional therapies. The results were so clearly in favor of intensive therapy that conclusions could be reached before the study was completed, Italian scientists reported in Vienna.

The Bloodgen Project: Improving the Blood Supply

The era in which standard serology tests divided populations into two basic blood groups, ABO and Rh, may soon be a thing of the past. Nearly a century after blood group analysis began, new technologies for genotyping of blood offer a far more accurate picture of blood groups, experts reported at the 12th Congress of the European Hematology Association.

Exploring the Mechanisms of Leukemia

There are still many unsolved mysteries surrounding cancer, especially leukemia. Why does what seems to be the same type of cancer respond to the same therapy in one case but not in another? The latest in modern genetic analyses reveal what incredibly diverse modes of action are involved and point the way to new therapies.

Congress of European Hematologists: New Treatment Options to Counter Increased Susceptibility to Thrombosis

Thromboses can be fatal. In fact, in our part of the world their consequences are the third most common cause of death. That makes it all the more important to recognize risk factors and to derive from them new methods of prevention and therapy. Revolutionary discoveries on this subject have been made by the Dutch coagulation researcher Professor Rogier Bertina. In recognition of this fine work, he was singled out to receive the José Carreras EHA Award at the Congress of European Hematologists in Vienna. New treatment options could protect many at-risk patients.

Experts at Hematologists Congress in Vienna Say the Procedure for Donating Stem Cells Is Safe

Donating stem cells is almost free of risk for donors and is often the only chance of survival for many patients with certain severe blood or bone marrow diseases. This was the conclusion arrived at in an observation study conducted by the Medical University of Hanover and just presented at the Congress of the European Hematology Association in Vienna.

Risk and Gain Assessment of Stem Cell Transplantation in Osteopetrosis

Experts present an analysis of long term data on the success of stem cell transplantation for osteopetrosis patients which suggests second transplants should be considered a key option.

Pharmacogenomics: Decreasing Drug Toxicity Through Personalized Medicine

Pharmacogenomics offers the promise of individualized drug therapies based on a patient's genetic make-up and that of the tumor cells. Such tailor-made drug regimes hold the promise to further increase survival rates for cancer. They could also decrease the sometimes lethal side effects of the powerful drugs used in cancer therapy, experts reported at the 12th Congress of the European Hematology Association in Vienna.

First Effective Treatment Against a Dangerous Form of Anemia

Until now a person suffering from paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a degenerative disease of the red blood cells, had a 50:50 chance of dying prematurely from a thromboembolism. A new drug reduces this risk by 85%.

European Hematologists Aim at Improving Care in Blood Diseases

Hematological diseases are more widespread than is commonly assumed. More than 175.000 people in the countries of the European Union and more than 267.000 people in the larger Europe are newly diagnosed of malignant blood disorders such as leukemia and lymphoma every year, and several millions are afflicted by non-malignant illnesses such as anemia and thrombosis. The European Hematology Association (EHA), at its 12th Congress in Vienna, Austria, presents activities that aim at ensuring medical improvements reach as wide a patient base in Europe as possible.

Umbilical Cord as Spare Parts Warehouse? Controversies on Private Blood Banking

Blood from the umbilical cord is considered to be a valuable biological raw material today that can help to cure illness. An increasing number of parents have private blood banks freeze the stem cells from the blood in their childs umbilical cord and spare no expense to do so. But experts at the Congress of the European Hematology Association in Vienna say that the benefits of this supposedly preventive measure is controversial. Putting cord blood in public banks, on the other hand, is an act of solidarity that could provide stem cells to affected patients who need them. Possible future options may be hybrid public-private blood banks.