The MDS Beacon™

Phase 2 Trial For Drug AR-67 Opens – Arno Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in cancer treatment, announced on Thursday the enrollment of their first patient in a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of AR-67 in adults with MDS who have failed prior therapies. AR-67, previously known as DB-67, inhibits the DNA enzyme topoisomerase I, thereby halting the advance of cancerous tumors. AR-67 will be administered intravenously for five days over approximately 16 weeks. The study, which hopes to enroll 25 MDS patients, will occur at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. For more information, please see the Arno Therapeutics press release.

Wisconsin Boy Scout To Hold Blood And Marrow Donor Awareness Drive – In partnership with the American Red Cross, boy scout Micah Topel of Evansville, WI will host “Micah’s Drive for Life” – a combination blood drive, bone marrow donor drive, and organ/tissue donor sign up – on Thursday, August 6 at the UAW Local 95 Hall. The drive will raise awareness about blood, bone marrow, and organ donations and raise money for the Restoring Hope Transplant House where families can stay while patients are receiving treatment at University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital. For more information, see the Janesville Gazette article.

Chinese MDS Patients Have Different Genetic Abnormalities Than Western Patients – A study reported that 68 percent of Chinese patients with MDS showed genetic mutations, but at different types and rates than those observed in western patients. The observed chromosomal abnormalities included varying numbers of copies, structural irregularities, and translocations, in which different sections of chromosomes were switched.  Twelve translocations in this study had never been reported before.  Researchers hypothesize that eastern and western patients develop MDS through different abnormalities due to environmental factors and exposure to different chemicals and infectious agents. More information can be found in Leukemia Research.

For a more detailed listing of MDS-related events, please check the MDS Beacon Events Calendar.