Montefiore in the News

Findings Outline New Therapeutic Considerations in Malignant & Non-Malignant Hematologic Disorders 

December 4, 2014—(BRONX, NY)—Investigators at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care (MECCC), The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University’s NCI–designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center will present their findings at the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) 56^th Annual Meeting and Exposition on therapeutic options for disorders like thrombosis and diseases such as childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and sickle cell disease. ASH 2014 will take place December 6-9, 2014 in San Francisco.

Below are the Montefiore and Einstein oral presentations that will take place during the meeting. Researchers are available for media interviews.

Ovarian Vein Thrombosis: Clinical Features, Risk Factors, and Outcomes – Presented by Amer Assal, M.D., Division of Hematology-Oncology, Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care and Einstein. Session 331. Pathophysiology of Thrombosis: Risk factors and biomarkers. Monday, December 8, 5:30pm; West Building, 2006-2008 (Moscone Center).

• The largest study on ovarian vein thrombosis (OVT) to date, investigated incidence, clinical features and therapeutic options for this disorder, which does not have consensus on treatment. Results found that OVT can occur within either ovarian vein, but occurs predominantly on the right in peripartum patients. Anticoagulation was not associated with decreased recurrence rate, providing evidence that a prospective study of patients is needed to determine the best therapy for OVT.

Polymorphisms in Genes Related to Oxidative Stress Are Associated with Inferior Cognitive Function after Therapy for Childhood ALL – Presented by Peter Cole, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, Einstein and attending physician, Division of Hematology-Oncology, director, Hematologic Malignancy Service, Montefiore. Session: 902. Health Services and Outcomes Research – Malignant Diseases: Late Effects after Treatment of Hematological Malignancies/Quality of Care. Tuesday, December 9, 8:15AM; West Building, 3006-3008 (Moscone Center).

• Neurocognitive deficits are a major problem among survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This study evaluated whether some of the observed patient variability in cognitive outcomes can be explained by inherited polymorphisms in genes related to the multifactorial pathophysiology of treatment-induced cognitive decline.

Reducing Health Care Utilization in Sickle Cell Disease Patients By Implementation of an Individualized, Multimodal Care Plan during Hospital Admission and at Inpatient to Outpatient Discharge – Presented by Deepa Manwani, M.D., associate professor of clinical pediatrics, Einstein, and director, Sickle Cell Disease Program, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Montefiore. Session: 901. Health Services and Outcomes Research – Non-Malignant Conditions: Sickle Cell Disease: Current Challenges and Potential Solutions. Monday, December 8, 11:45 AM; West Building, 3006-3008 (Moscone Center).

• Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a chronic illness characterized by vaso-occlusive complications leading to unpredictable episodes of pain, cumulative organ damage and high health care utilization rates. Lack of outpatient follow up with a trained hematologist following hospitalization increases SCD readmission rates. Implementation of an individualized, multimodal care plan during the inpatient stay and at the inpatient to outpatient discharge resulted in reduced acute care utilization with a 38% reduction the 30 day readmission rate.

Each year, the American Society of Hematology offers merit-based awards to trainees with high-scoring annual meeting abstracts. 2014 Abstract Achievement Awards were presented to several Montefiore-Einstein trainees, including: Aditi Shastri, M.D., whose abstract is titled “Targeting of MDS & AML Stem Cells Via Inhibition of STAT3 by Pyrimethamine;” medical student Monica Zell,  whose abstract is titled “Analysis of Large Cohort Shows That Caribbean Adult T Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma Is a Chemotherapy Refractory Disease with Very Poor Prognosis that Behaves Distinctly from Japanese Subtypes;”  and Tushar D. Bhagat, Ph.D., whose abstract is titled “Myelodysplastic Syndrome Marrow Stroma Shows Widespread Aberrant Hypermethylation That Is Abrogated By Treatment with Dnmt Inhibitors.”

More than 10 posters will be presented at the meeting, this also includes a poster by Montefiore internal medicine resident Timothy Geoffrey Bowler, PhD, MBBS, which found novel mutations and high rates of false positive mutations in MLL3, via exome sequencing of Familial myelodysplastic syndromes.