Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Lapatinib and tastuzumab for HER+ colorectal cancer – pro

There is evidence to support HER based therapy from the phase II HERACLES-A study that used meticulous biomarker selection of patients with HER2-amplified colorectal cancer, who typically do not respond well to conventional treatment options A two-pronged strategy, with lapatinib and trastuzumab yielded positive results in this subset of patients. Lapatinib plus trastuzumab is a potential new treatment option for treatment-refractory HER2-positive

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Promacta for low platelets of acute leukemia or myelodysplasia

Low platelet counts are a frequent symptom in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Eltrombopag(Promacta) might be a new option to treat this problem in these diseases, provided that it can be shown that it does not stimulate malignant growht. Unfortunately, there is no significant literature to support Promacta in the setting of ongoing treatment for AML with Vidaza or in MDS. Currenlty PROMACTA is not indicated

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Incomplete response to induction in acute myelogenous leukemia and salvage approaches

Standard Therapy of acute myelogenous leukemia (excluding acute promyelocytic leukemia) begins with induction chemotherapy and is followed by consolidation and sometimes by maintenance phases of treatment. Various acceptable induction regimens are available. The most common approach is called ”3 and 7,” which consists of 3 days of a 15- to 30-minute infusion of an anthracycline (idarubicin or daunorubicin) or anthracenedione (mitoxantrone), combined

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Intravenous gammaglobulin for ITP – pro

Lay Summary: IVIG is standard for ITP but represents a "holding action" rather than a cure. IVIG is approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of the following diseases: Kawasaki disease, dermato/polymyositis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), Guillain-Barre syndrome, polyneuropathy, some viral diseases, and some forms of immune deficiency. The place of IVIG in the treatment of ITP is not well clarified. It does not modify the disease

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Sorafenib for FLT3+ AML

Sorafenib (Nexavar,) has been approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cancer and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Among other biological actions, is the ones against FLT3-RTK and FLT3-ITD, suggesting that it may have a role in treating AML cases that have FLT3 mutations. Sorafenib in a phase 1 clinical trial on 16 patients with AML was found to be active in 6 of the 7 Flt3-ITD–positive patients. However, treatment duration was short (21-70

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Haploidentical Donors

There are different kinds of donors for stem cell transplantation. The best matched donors are siblings but not everyone has siblings. The ultimate such donor is an identical twin, which is called syngeneic transplantation. On the other end of the spectrum is unrelated donor. Inevitably, an unrelated donor is less of a match than a properly screened sibling. Related haploidentical BMT is an alternative method for expanding the potential pool of stem

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Criteria for Remission in AML

What constitutes a “remission” in AML? How does one know that a remission had been obtained? Not surprisingly, as befits this important question, International Working Group has enunciated criteria for defining a remission for AML. They are: Normal values for absolute neutrophil count (>1000/microL) and platelet count (>100,000/microL), and independence from red cell transfusion. A bone marrow biopsy that reveals no clusters or collections

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