Moffitt's Blood And Marrow Transplantation Program In The Spotlight

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 28 Nov 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Moffitt Cancer Center's Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program (BMT) will have five abstracts highlighted at the 2007 American Society of Hematology Meeting and Exposition. The meeting will be Dec. 8 through 11 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

More than 21,000 clinicians, scientists and hematology experts from around the world will gather for presentations selected from peer-reviewed abstracts on the latest research in hematology. Faculty from Moffitt's BMT program will present the abstracts, which appeared in Blood, Volume 10, Issue 11, on Nov. 16.

Drs. Melissa Alsina and Daniel Sullivan investigated two different approaches to treat resistant or relapsed myeloma patients using a two-drug combination therapy of high-dose Melphalan with either Bortezomib or Topotecan, and transplant of the patients' own stem cells. Dr. Lia E. Perez will discuss how the immune system controls myeloma, and how the environment can render myeloma resistant to immune control. Dr. Mohamed Kharfan-Dabaja will demonstrate how the use of Rituximab is not only safe but helpful in the control of relapsed lymphomas together with a stem cell transplant from a donor. Drs. Robert Bray and Claudio Anasetti will discuss how donor-specific HLA antibodies in the patients are linked to failed engraftment of stem cell transplants from unrelated donors.

Moffitt's BMT program is the largest in Florida, performing more than 270 transplants a year, program leader Anasetti says. Since its inception in 1989, the program has performed more than 2,300 transplants with approximately 1,100 survivors. The goal is to refine transplant protocols to achieve better outcomes for patients with few other treatment options. The program treats adults at Moffitt, as well as children at All Children's Hospital.

About Moffitt Cancer Center

Located in Tampa, Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center is the only Florida-based cancer center with the NCI designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center for its excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt currently has 15 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia and two in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country's leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for cancer and ear, nose and throat. Moffitt's sole mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.

http://www.moffitt.org

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