Stockholm, June 14, 2013 Dr Jesus San-Miguel will present promising results of a phase 3 study in multiple myeloma.
Treatment for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) has improved over the last decade due to the introduction of new drugs such as lenalidomide and bortezomib. However, after receiving multiple treatments, MM patients often become resistant (refractory) to these drugs and have an average survival of only 9 months.

Stockholm, June 14, 2013 Dr Henk Lokhorst will present the results from a phase I/II study in advanced Multiple Myeloma.
Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematological cancer. It is a cancer of plasma cells and it accounts for approx. 1% of all cancers. At present, no cure is available. The 5-year relative survival rate for multiple myeloma is around 40% so there is a strong need for new treatment modalities to improve the survival.

Stockholm, June 14, 2013 Dr Elizabeta Nemeth will present findings of a study in patients with iron overload disorders that will contribute to the design of a potential new treatment at the 18th Congress of the European Hematology Association in Stockholm.

Stockholm, June 14, 2013 Dr Ross Levine will present the results from a study on targeting the JAK-STAT pathway in myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Stockholm, June 14, 2013 Dr Valentin Goede will present promising outcomes for elderly CLL patients at the 18th Congress of the European Hematology Association in Stockholm.

Since 2010 the European Hematology Association (EHA) and the Wallace H Coulter Foundation (WHCF) have been in a close partnership, in which EHA was the beneficiary of generous donations for its projects. The support of the WHCF has been the prime mover for the setup of the EHA-ASH Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH) program and an important contributor towards the vast expansion of EHA’s outreach program. Both programs have had a major impact on the Association’s array of activities and global network.

The importance of the achievements of Wallace Coulter, the inventor of the Coulter Counter - the most valuable tool in the hematology laboratory, as a person and his organization cannot be underestimated for the hematological community as well as for EHA due to the Foundation’s support. EHA is glad to be able to pay tribute and commemorate the 100th birthday of Wallace Coulter.

This year the Scientific Working Group Session on hematopoietic stem cells will focus on the recent advance in the field of “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (IPSC)”.

Iron deficiency anaemia continues to me the most common disease in the world, affecting millions of people, mostly women. Failure to find an underlying cause of iron deficiency and failure to respond to iron replacement often points to a completely different mechanism of anaemia which is usually congenital and surprisingly can lead to excess accumulation of iron and ill health.

Breaking news on Lymphoma (lymph node cancer) and Myeloma (plasma cell cancer) reported at meetings of Scientific Working Groups during the European Hematology Congress in Stockholm, June 13-16, 2013  

  Today, May 8, is International Thalassemia Day. Today, we seek to enhance the awareness and knowledge of thalassemia and other hemoglobin disorders.

The introduction of a European Hematology Association-Theme of the Year in June 2012, focusing on Quality of Life (QoL) in Hematology, was successful in stimulating awareness, conference sessions, publications, and reports.

The conclusion, in June 2013, of this year’s theme includes two editorials in Haematologica entitled “Patients’ needs in hematology: whose perspectives?” and “Age and Aging in blood disorders: EHA Theme of the Year 2013-2014’’. The Scientific Working Group Quality of Life and Symptoms will organize a SWG Session “Implementation of treatment related patient-reported outcomes in routine clinical practice in hematological malignancies”. Although each theme of the year is introduced to highlight a certain topic in hematology, the themes will remain active. Therefore, Quality of Life will stay on the agenda.

As we all know, healthcare budgets in Europe are under increasing pressure, affecting all medical disciplines. Sadly, hematology is no exception. Austerity measures are threatening patients’ access to medicine in Europe. On May 16, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) organizes the event ‘Can EU Citizens Afford their Medicines? The Economic Crisis and Access to Medicines in Europe’ in the European Parliament, Brussels. If you are interested, please register using the following link.

REGISTRATION

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) regenerate blood cells throughout the lifespan of an individual.  The HSC pool has to accommodate to the cellular stresses associated with its life-long activity. HSCs are protected in specific bone marrow areas called “niches”. New technologies allow the analysis of different bone marrow compartments and the functional implications on HSCs.  HSCs persist for a lifetime; there is a balance between their proliferation and their quiescent (sleeping) state. Therefore, the HSCs cell cycle is controlled by factors within and outside the cell.

Every year on the 8th May, Thalassaemia International Federation commemorates the International Thalassaemia Day and organises activities for raising awareness about the genetic blood disorder of thalassaemia, on general topics…

The word ‘leukemia’ fills people with awe and foreboding. Things have changed, however, for the better. In children who have Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) the cure rate is about 90%. In adults the story is not so good. The predominant type of leukemia in adults is Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and most patients are over 60 years of age. Although age was felt to be an important factor in the poor responses seen in adults, it is now clear that Acute Leukemia in older patients is a different disease which is intrinsically resistant to traditional chemotherapy.