MedWorm Tags: aml

Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)

Inside Surgery — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 06:00:43 +0100

Pathophysiology group of disorders (at least nine different variants) in which a hematopoietic stem cell becomes neoplastic or alternately an individual lineage of stem cells (e.g., erythrocytes, monocytes, granulocytes, or megakaryocytes) becomes neoplastic Signs and Symptoms 1) usually presents with signs of anemia – pallor, fatigue, weakness 2) splenomegaly 3) hepatomegaly 4) hemorrhage in GI tract and CNS if platelets are < 20,000/dL 5) dyspnea owing to infiltration of lung by leukocytes 6) secondary infections 7) gingival hyperplasia Characteristic Test Findings Bone marrow – 1) by definition, > 30% of nucleated cells are blasts Laboratory – 2) anemia 3) thrombocytopenia 4) neutrophilia (but total leukocyte count may be increased or decreased) Histology/Gross Patholo...

Such A Deal! SuperGen & Its Growth Strategy

Pharmalot — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:53:26 +0100

Deals in which one drugmaker agrees to buy another are hardly unusual events. Nor are protests from shareholders who believe the terms are somehow inadequate. But every so often an objection is raised in such a way that puts management on the spot. That happened earlier this week, when SuperGen execs held a meeting to discuss their planned acquisition of Astex Pharmaceuticals. At a gathering at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan before about two dozen investors, SuperGen ceo Jim Manuso and his counterpart at Astex, Harren Jhoti, went through the usual sort of presentation about shareholder value, synergies and product pipelines (see the release about the deal). Then came the question-and-answer period. And Manuso seemed unprepared for what occured. A former Wall Street analyst who now man...

When Less Is More: Smaller Doses Of Chemo May Be Equally Effective In AML

Better Health — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:00:58 +0100

A recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine includes an article with the bland title Cytarabine Dose for Acute Myeloid Leukemia. AML is an often-curable form of leukemia characterized by rapidly-growing myeloid white blood cells. Cytarabine — what we’d call “Ara-C” on rounds — has been a mainstay of AML treatment for decades. The new report* covers a fairly large, multicenter, randomized trial of adult patients with AML. The researchers, based in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, evaluated 860 patients who received either intermediate or high doses of Ara-C in their initial, induction chemotherapy. According to the journal, “this investigator-sponsored study did not involve any pharmaceutical companies.” The main finding was that at a median follo...

Take Your Stinking Paws Off My Benjamins You Damn Dirty Statist

Cato-at-liberty — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:44:18 +0100

By Daniel J. MitchellOkay, perhaps the title of this post is not quite as memorable as Charlton Heston’s famous line from Planet of the Apes, but it certainly captures my sentiments after reading an article in Slate that calls for the elimination of the $100 bill. The author, Timothy Noah, says that large bills are only for “criminals and sociopaths.” Here’s the crux of his argument. …why does the U.S. continue to print C-notes…? Technological change has reduced much further the plausible need of any law-abiding American to carry a C-note in his wallet or to stash a pile of C-notes in his mattress. Noah’s argument is unconvincing for several reasons. First, he is underestimating the degree to which “law-abiding” Americans use “Ben...

Whither Accelerated Approval? ‘We Have Teeth’

Pharmalot — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:02:57 +0100

Two years ago, the FDA approved Avastin to combat breast cancer, even though an advisory panel determined that risks such as high blood pressure and death outweighed the benefit of slowing the spread of tumors. The agency, however, acted under its accelerated approval program and the move pumped up sales of a Roche drug that is also used to treat brain, lung and colon tumors. Now, though, Avastin is on trial again. Another FDA panel today will decide whether use of the $50,000-a-year med should be continued, expanded, or halted after two studies - which were undertaken as a condition of approval - found patients given Avastin and chemotherpay didn’t survive longer than those given chemo alone. And Avastin patients also suffered more serious side effects. This is the second time in re...

The Mylotarg Withdrawal And Accelerated Approval

Pharmalot — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:03:13 +0100

The decision to withdraw Mylotarg, a drug used to treat acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, is more significant for the FDA than for Pfizer, which garnered about $100 million in worldwide sales from the medicine. That’s because the drug was approved in 2000 as part of the accelerated approval process. As the FDA explained when announcing the withdrawal: “This program allows the agency to approve a drug to treat serious diseases with an unmet medical need based on a surrogate endpoint – a laboratory measurement or a physical sign used as a substitute for a clinically meaningful endpoint that directly measures how a patient feels, functions, or survives.” The program was an outgrowth of criticism that the agency wasn’t moving fast enough to approve new drugs, especially...

Leukemia – cancer of the white blood cells

Nursing Comments — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:30:57 +0100

Leukemia is a rather complex form of cancer. The term refers to cancers of the white blood cells, which are also called leukocytes or WBCs. The disorder actually starts in the tissue that forms the blood. To understand the cancer disease more thoroughly, it helps to know that normal blood cells develop from cells in the bone marrow called stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft material located in the center of most bones. Stem cells mature into different kinds of blood cells, and each one has a specific purpose. White blood cells help fight infection in our bodies. Red blood cells carry oxygen to tissues throughout the body. Platelets help form blood clots that control bleeding. Leukemia develops when the marrow produces far too many white...

my 2 year cancerversary....and stuff

Ironic Twist of Fate — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:46:00 +0100

February 12th has come and gone and so has my 2 year cancerversary (the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer). This trumps Valentine's Day for my husband and I - so we usually go out for a nice dinner and celebrate on February 12th. Hell - I'm 2 years out from cancer!In other news: those of you that know me, know that life has been a bit tough since November. My mother was suddenly diagnosed with Leukemia (AML) on November 10th, was admitted into ICU, and was in the hospital for several months. She's being treated at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She still has two more week long rounds of chemo and should be done in April or May. But so far (knock on wood) the chemo is working, and has put her into remission. Where she is now compared to where she came from in November, is noth...

Two new AML stem cell killers

Margaret's Corner — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:54:48 +0100

In my June 11 post I mentioned reading about two compounds that effectively eradicate AML at the bulk, progenitor and stem level: celastrol and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal or HNE (AML stands for acute myelogenous leukaemia, by the way). Well, thanks to Sherlock , I was able to read the whole University of Rochester/University of Pennsylvania study. The [...] (Source: Margaret's Corner)