12 June 2021 (Saturday) - ASH Updates

 The American Society of Hematology sent a couple of updates today. All a tad specialised, but all useful snippets. I particularly found the bit about ABO mismatched platelets to be interesting. Considering there aren’t (supposed to be) A or B antigens on platelets, how does that work?

 Here are the highlights in bleeding disorders:

Outcomes After ABO-Incompatible Platelet Transfusions in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage The use of an incompatible platelet unit led to suboptimal platelet recovery and worse in-hospital outcomes at discharge compared with patients who received ABO-compatible transfusions.

Characterizing Complications Among Infants and Toddlers With von Willebrand Disease A new report describes the experiences of infants and toddlers living with VWD, highlighting the role and importance of a family history on the diagnosis of VWD and identifying several factors associated with early diagnosis.

Investigation Finds Hemophilia Gene Therapy Likely Did Not Cause Hepatocellular Carcinoma The FDA placed a clinical hold on etranacogene dezaparvovec following a report of HCC in a patient enrolled in the HOPE-B trial, but an investigation revealed the cancer was not likely to be treatment-related.

ASH Clinical News is following the 26th Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association to report on the latest advances in hematologic malignancies. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:

Head-to-Head Trial Confirms Acalabrutinib’s Noninferiority to Ibrutinib in CLL
For the treatment of patients with CLL, acalabrutinib is noninferior to ibrutinib in terms of progression-free survival and was associated with lower incidence of common adverse events, such as atrial fibrillation.

B-Cell Depletion Linked to Prolonged COVID-19 in Lymphoma
A study of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma hospitalized for COVID-19 has found that these patients had a higher incidence of prolonged evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

PDE9 Inhibitor Shows Promise as Monotherapy and With Hydroxyurea in Sickle Cell Disease
Daily dosing of the oral phosphodiesterase type 9 inhibitor IMR-687, at doses up to 200 mg, was safe and well-tolerated as a monotherapy or in combination with hydroxyurea in patients with sickle cell disease.