The MDS Beacon™

Experts will discuss the latest research for various blood diseases, including myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), at the 51^st annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).  The meeting will begin December 5 and run until December 8 in New Orleans.

The four-day exposition is an opportunity for blood disease specialists to share new research, network, and discuss the “next 50 years” of hematology.  A variety of presentations and posters will detail the latest advances in blood disease prevention, care, treatment, and survival.

There are many MDS seminars planned for the 2009 ASH meeting. The MDS Beacon will be covering the event, so readers can expect many articles in the upcoming weeks about the key MDS findings from the meeting. 

Saturday, December 5, will include several sessions about the biology of MDS and specific factors that may predict response to the disease and specific treatments. 

An MDS Education Program is scheduled for Saturday, December 5. Dr. David Steensma will present issues surrounding the classification of MDS subtypes in a seminar titled, “The Changing Classification of MDS: What’s in a Name?”  Dr. Heather Leitch will discuss iron chelation in “Chelation Therapy and Supportive Care in MDS: Are We Saving Lives, or Just Lowering Iron?” 

Also on Saturday, Dr. Peter Greenberg will discuss health care policy in a seminar titled, “Myelodysplastic Syndromes: An Illustration of the Impact of Treatment Drug Costs On Patients.”

In Sunday’s session about treatments and clinical observations, researchers will share information about new drugs that may be used to treat MDS, such as Campath (alemtuzumab) and Clolar (clofarabine). 

Mutations will be the focus of Monday’s session, where researchers will share their findings about the effects of specific genetic abnormalities.

A special session on Monday, December 7 will highlight pediatric MDS in a presentation titled, “Spotlight on Myelodysplastic Syndrome in Children: Biology and Treatment.”  As MDS is rare at a young age, clinical specialists will discuss the unique development of MDS and treatment options for children.

Three additional seminars about more general MDS topics will be held on December 7 and 8.  The disease will also be discussed with regard to transplantation, health services, and education in other informational presentations.

Over 100 abstracts specific to MDS research will be displayed in three separate poster sessions at the ASH meeting.

Posters on Saturday will highlight several potential new treatments, including sapacitabine, romiplostin, and combination therapies with Vidaza (azacitidine).  Posters on Sunday will cover a variety of topics, including Revlimid (lenalidomide), Dacogen (decitabine), and gene expression.  Posters on Monday will include additional research on the genetic component of MDS, agent Exjade (deferasirox), and prognoses.

Further information about the ASH meeting, including registration forms, meeting abstracts, and symposia information, can be found at the ASH Web site. For similar coverage of the EHA 2009 meeting (European Hematology Association) and ASCO 2009 meeting (American Society of Clinical Oncology), please see the related articles here at the Beacon.