Blood Podcast

In this week’s episode, we’ll discuss an analysis of genetic risks for CMV infection after an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, learn more about a new multiplex gene editing approach to reactivate fetal hemoglobin in thalassemia, and discuss transcriptional rewiring of normal plasma cell development in light-chain amyloidosis and myeloma.

In this week’s episode, we’ll review results of a phase 3 randomized study demonstrating shorter time to neutrophil and platelet recovery with an ex vivo expanded hematopoietic progenitor cell product called omidubicel as compared to standard umbilical cord transplantation. Next, we’ll look at preliminary data on the development of lymphomas originating from piggyBac-modified CD19 CAR T-cells, sounding a note of caution for researchers exploring new gene modification methodologies for CAR T-cell production. We’ll conclude with a report suggesting that the vesicular protein CD63 may orchestrate the transfer of iron-rich ferritin among cells.

In this week’s episode, we will review a study that prospectively followed tuberculosis patients after treatment initiation to evaluate iron handling during the resolution of inflammatory anemia. We will also examine clinical benefit and long-term safety of gamma-retroviral gene therapy in patients with adenosine deaminase deficient severe combined immunodeficiency.

In this week’s episode, we’ll review a study providing new insights on megakaryocyte diversity and function, including a unique subpopulation that may act as immune cells. Next, we’ll review research that intriguingly reveals a putative role for the PD1 gene in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Lastly, we’ll conclude with a report demonstrating a lack of cross-reaction between the antibodies that cause vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis, and the COVID-19 spike protein.

In this week’s episode, we’ll review a study that demonstrates the efficacy of a synthetic inhibitor termed P-G6 that blocks P-selectin signaling and reduces thrombus formation in a pre-clinical model of non-occlusive venous thrombosis, learn more about how biallelic and single bZip CEBPA mutations have an equally favorable prognostic impact in acute myeloid leukemia, and examine the effects of modifying the pathophysiology of sickle cell anemia with therapeutic agents that increase oxygen affinity.

In this week’s episode, we review results of preclinical investigations that sound a note of caution regarding the potential use of JAK inhibitors as treatment for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (or HLH), research that provides new insights on how CD44 loss of function sensitizes AML cells to the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax, and conclude with a report that demonstrates cooperation between B cell receptor signaling and genetic lesions in CDKN2A, CDKN2B and TP53 in Richter transformation.

In this week’s episode, we will review an integrated analysis of one of the largest adult BCR-ABL1-negative B-ALL patient cohorts treated in a single trial, learn more about the genotypic and phenotypic features of patients with clonal cytopenias, and look at a study showing that a serine protease expressed in the placenta cleaves α1-antitrypsin to generate a fragment that inhibits formation of neutrophil extracellular traps in neonates.

In this week’s episode, we’ll review updated results of a phase 1b study that provide strong support for the use of fixed-duration venetoclax in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL. Next, we’ll review a research paper that provides new insights on the different subtypes of invariant natural killer T cells, which appear to have diverse immunoregulatory properties and anti-tumor effects. We will finish up with a report indicating that rare variants in the telomerase gene, TERT, are underrecognized in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, providing a new insight into the germline genetic component of disease pathophysiology.

In this week’s episode, we will review a study that shows that BCL11B is an important oncogene in acute leukemias with myeloid and T-lymphoid features, learn more about antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in lymphoma patients receiving B-cell directed therapies, and examine the role of programmed death ligand 1 (or PD-L1) and the PI 3 kinase-AKT survival pathway in delayed neutrophil apoptosis at sites of tissue inflammation.

To reach the goal of curing currently incurable hematologic malignancies, we need to go beyond focusing on single gene mutations and gain deeper understanding of the consequences of genetic alterations on gene-regulatory pathways. Edited by John Crispino, these 5 cutting-edge reviews from leaders in the their fields not only summarize our current understanding of key pathways that contribute to myeloid malignancies, but also discuss new therapeutic avenues related to them. They provide a springboard for further groundbreaking basic and clinical advances in hematologic malignancies.Review Series on Mechanisms of Hematologic Malignancies