Bone Marrow Cancer

High-tech scan a boon for bone marrow cancer patients

Here comes a unique Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan that could improve care for bone marrow cancer patients, says IANS.

The new whole-body, diffusion-weighted MRI scans showed the spread of cancer throughout the bone marrow of patients with myeloma – one of the most common forms of blood cancer – more accurately than standard tests.
The scans also showed whether the patients were responding to cancer treatments, said researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. In the study, 26 patients had whole-body MRI scans before and after treatment.

In 86 percent of cases, experienced doctors trained in imaging were able to correctly identify whether patients responded to treatment. The doctors also correctly identified those patients who weren’t responding to treatment 80 percent of the time.
Using the scanning technique, doctors could pinpoint exactly where the cancer was in the bones, with the results available immediately. Conventional tests include bone marrow biopsies and blood tests but neither shows accurately where the cancer is present in the bones.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to obtain information from all the bones in the entire body for myeloma in one scan without having to rely on individual bone X-rays,” said Nandita deSouza, professor of translational imaging at the Institute of Cancer Research.

“We can look on the screen and see straight away where the cancer is and measure how severe it is. The scan is better than blood tests which don’t tell us in which bones the cancer is located,” she added. “It also reduces the need for uncomfortable biopsies which do not reveal the extent or severity of the disease,” said the study.
“In the future, we hope this new tool would help doctors extend the life of more myeloma patients,” added Faith Davies, member of the Myeloma targeted treatment team at the Institute of Cancer Research and honorary consultant at The Royal Marsden.

Source: The Free Press Journal

Indian doctor awarded by American Society of Haematology

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Dr Praveen Kaudlay, a clinical haematology specialist registrar based in the UK, has been awarded with Abstract Achievement Award by the American Society of Haematology for his work as a first author on bone marrow failure condition called as paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria.

 

The award was presented, along with the paper presentation, at the 55th annual American Society of Haematology conference held in New Orleans, US from December 7 to 10.

Each year, the American Society of Haematology, offers merit-based Abstract Achievement Awards to select individuals to acknowledge the accomplishments of haematologists-in-training. This year’s Abstract Achievement Awards recognize undergraduate students, medical students, graduate students, resident physicians, and post-doctoral fellows who are both first author and presenter of an abstract.

Discussing about his paper with India Medical Times, Dr Kaudlay said, “The work was on bone marrow failure condition called as paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria. We looked at polymorphism in a complement molecule as these patients despite being treated with a drug, Eculizumab, tend to have haemolysis (blood getting destroyed inside the circulation). The study also included testing a molecule that blocks complement C3 in-vitro. The main investigator for this work is Prof Peter Hillmen, based at St James University Hospital at Leeds. I am the first author for the paper. Nearly 3,000 abstracts are submitted from around the world in this high profile conference attended by more than 20,000 delegates from all parts of the world.”

 

A graduate from Bangalore Medical College, Dr Kaudlay holds an interest in blood disorders and bone marrow failure syndromes and stem cell transplantation, which are quite common in India. He finished his postgraduation in General Medicine from India before going to the UK in 2003.

Talking about his future plans Dr Kaudlay said, “My future plan is to take research work that is of direct interest to India in blood disorders and bone marrow transplantation as Indians have different genetics compared to the Caucasians where most of the research are done. We have a large burden of thalassemia and sickle cell disease whose management needs to be improved. Bone marrow cancers are now being detected more than before needing novel chemotherapy drugs and stem cell transplantation. Indigenous research with Indian subjects needs to be pursued more to have a strong database to apply for treatment modalities.”

“My personal ambition is to develop a bone marrow donation registry which is as robust as in the West as patients of the Indian origin both within and outside India are struggling to find suitable match as lifesaving one marrow transplantation for many malignancies. There is a dire need to work along to develop the registry involving Indian population. The specialty of Haematology needs to be developed further to attract international trials and research in India,” he added.

Source: India medical times: