For the Fifth Consecutive Year, NSH-BMT's One-Year Related and Unrelated Allogeneic Transplant Survival Outcomes Were Among the Best in the U.S.^1,2

Please go to Survival for additional NSH-BMT survival outcome data information.

Dr. Melhem Solh Joins BMTGA and the NSH-BMT and Leukemia Programs

We are pleased to announce Dr. Melhem Solh has joined BMTGA and NSH-BMT/Leukemia programs. Prior to joining our Team, Dr. Solh was the Clinical Director for the Florida Center for Cellular Therapy Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Medical Director for the Cellular Therapy Laboratory and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Solh is a board certified hematologist and oncologist. At the University of Minnesota, Dr Solh completed a hematology, oncology and blood and marrow transplant fellowship training program.

Dr. Solh has authored and co-authored over 40 abstracts and publications in peer reviewed journals: Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplant, Bone Marrow Transplantation, American Journal of Hematology. Dr. Sohl’s clinical research interests include the development of innovative therapies for leukemia and malignant blood disorders.

Dr. Solh is seeing new patients and can be reached at 404-255-1930.

Open for Enrollment: A Phase 3 Study Comparing Daratumumab, Bortezomib (Velcade) and Dexamethasone (DVd) vs Bortezomib and Dexamethasone (Vd) in Subjects With Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

NSH – BMT, in collaboration with Janssen Research & Development, is offering an investigational treatment approach for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The primary objective of this Phase 3 study is to compare the efficacy, in terms of progression-free survival (PFS), of daratumumab when combined with Velcade (bortezomib) and dexamethasone (DVd) to that of Velcade and dexamethasone (Vd).

Daratumumab is a human IgG1? monoclonal antibody (mAb) that binds with high affinity to a unique epitope on CD38. It is a targeted immunotherapy that attacks tumor cells that overexpress CD38, a transmembrane glycoprotein, in a variety of hematological malignancies including multiple myeloma.

Eligibility criteria include the following: subjects who are 18 years of age; have documented multiple myeloma; have achieved a response (partial response [PR] or better) to at least 1 prior regimen; have documented evidence of progressive disease (PD) as defined by the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria on or after their last regimen; and have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status score of 0, 1, or 2.

Please contact Stacey Brown at 404-851-8238 to inquire about study details and eligibility requirements.

NSH - BMT Presents to the Central Georgia ONS December 2014 Meeting:
The Importance of Early BMT Referral for the Multiple Myeloma Patient

On December 4, 2014, at the monthly Central Georgia ONS meeting, Cheryl Nixon, PA, MSH, BMTGA and NSH-BMT mid-level practitioner, spoke on the importance of early BMT referral for any patient diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.

Ms. Nixon reviewed novel multiple myeloma drug therapies, current peer reviewed publications and national scientific organizations (NMDP, ASBMT) guidelines supporting the role of BMT early in the disease process. Ms. Nixon and Brook Blackmon, NSH-BMT coordinator, answered audience questions regarding how to refer a patient for BMT consideration and reviewed the BMT process.

NSH-BMT would like to thank NSH Education Department for providing the Central Georgia ONS nurses 1 contact hour of continuing education credit.

NSH-BMT Program Named as Core Clinical Transplant Center

NSH-BMT is the only transplant program in Georgia to receive the prestigious designation of Core Clinical Center from the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT-CTN). This designation is accompanied by a research grant awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The Program is one of 20 out of more than 120 such BMT Programs in the United States to be awarded this status.

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NSH-BMT Collaborating with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on Innovative Research Partnership

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has established a network of sites for clinical trial testing of innovative blood cancer therapies in community oncology settings across the country. This groundbreaking Blood Cancer Research Partnership (BCRP), dana-farber.org/BCRP, will bring clinical trials closer to where patients live and help to address one of the primary bottlenecks in the development of new cancer therapies: the need for more patients to take part in trials. NSH-BMT is one of ten sites who have been selected to participate in this prestigious partnership.

LLS will be investing $1,050,000 in this three-year project. "This novel partnership between Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and LLS supports the mission of both organizations – to bring cutting-edge clinical research to a wider spectrum of patients with blood cancers today in order to change the paradigms of clinical care for patients tomorrow," said Blood Cancer Research Program Co-Director Robert Soiffer, M.D., who is the chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at Dana-Farber. "The BCRP consortium will provide the opportunity for the Division of Hematologic Malignancies to extend clinical research trials to patients who are outside our regional area and do not have the capacity to come to Dana-Farber."

For more information about NSH-BMT’s collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, please call Stacey Brown, CCRP, Clinical Research & Data Supervisor, at 404-851-8238.

NSH-BMT/Leukemia Programs will Present Three Oral and Five Poster Presentations at the 2014 American Society of Hematology: ASH Meeting

The NSH-BMT/Leukemia Programs have been recognized by ASH for their innovative and state-of- the-art clinical research efforts in blood and marrow transplantation and leukemia therapies. Having three oral and five post presentations selected for presentation, represents the commitment NSH-BMT/Leukemia Programs have towards their patients by providing them with the best and most cutting edge treatments for blood, marrow and leukemia diseases.

The presentations will include the following:

• TBI-Based Myeloablative Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation is a Safe and Effective Alternative to Unrelated Donor Transplantation in Patients without Matched Sibling Donors. ORAL ABSTRACT #426
• The Psychosocial Transplant Evaluation Rating Scale (TERS) Prospectively Predicts Inferior Overall Survival Outcome for High Risk Scoring Patients Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. ORAL ABSTRACT # 207
• Survival after T-Replete Haplo-identical Related Donor Transplants Using Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide Compared with Match Unrelated Donor Transplantation for Acute Myeloid Leukemia: An Analysis from the CIBMTR. ORAL ABSTRACT # 679
• Five Posters by the NSH-BMT/Leukemia clinical pharmacists and BMT physician team members.

NSH-BMT/Leukemia Programs Publish in Peer Reviewed Journals to Advance the Field of Blood, Marrow and Leukemia Therapies

In 2014, NSH-BMT/Leukemia physicians and team had the following peer reviewed articles published:

Real-Life Experience of a Brief Arsenic Trioxide (ATO)-based Consolidation Chemotherapy in the Management of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL): Favorable Outcomes with Limited Anthracycline Exposure and Shorter Consolidation Therapy, Mindy Leech, PharmD; Lawrence Morris; Moishe Stewart; Douglas Smith; Asad Bashey; Kent Holland; Scott Solomon; Xu Zhang; Hetty E Carraway; Keith Pratz; Steven Gore; Amer M Zeidan. Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia, MS# CLML-D-14-00317R1

Solomon SR, SanacoreM, Zhang X, Brown, S, Holland K, Morris, LE, Bashey A. Calcineurin Inhibitor (DNI)-Free GVHD Prophylaxis with Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide (CY) and Brief-Course Sirolimus Following Reduced Intensity Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (2014), doi: 10,1016/j.bbmt.2014.07.020.

Bashey, A, Solomon, S. T-cell replete haploidentical donor transplantation using post-transplant CY: an emerging standard-of-care option for patients who lack an HLA-identical sibling donor. Bone Marrow Transplantation, advance online publication, 19 May 2014; doi:10.1038/bmt.2014.62.

Solomon SR, CA Sizemore, Z Zhang, S Brown, HK Holland, Le Morris, and A Bashey. Preemptive DLI without withdrawal of immunosuppression to promote complete donor T-cell chimerism results in favorable outcomes for high-risk older recipients of alemtuzumab-containing reduced-intensity unrelated donor allogeneic transplant: a prospective phase II trial. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2014) 49, 616-621; doi;10.1038/bmt.2014.2

NSH-BMT/Leukemia Programs are national leaders in developing and participating in cutting edge blood, marrow and leukemia clinical research trials. Please review Publications.

A Celebration of Life: NSH-BMT Hosts Survivor Reunion at The Fernbank Museum

On October 19, 2013, approximately five hundred guests, which included over 150 patients, their caregivers and the NSH-BMT Program staff came to the Fernbank Museum to celebrate their survivorship and life. Guests were inspired by the key note address given by our patient Alyssa Phillips. Alyssa spoke about her journey from being a patient to a survivor. Patients were recognized for their years into survivorship, including the very first patient transplanted at NSH-BMT over 15 years ago. Ray Stovall and Martha Stovall, Stovall Hope Foundation, were honored with an award recognizing their years of service to NSH-BMT patients and families. The Stovall Hope Foundation allows patients and their caregivers to stay in comfortable, spacious and cost-free living quarters while undergoing transplant services at NSH-BMT.

Our special thanks to Dr. Gerry Connaghan, who travelled from Dublin Ireland to attend this special event. Dr. Connaghan was a founding physician of The Blood and Marrow Transplant Group of Georgia.

National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP): Post Transplant Mobile App is Now Available

To help physicians with the reference materials they need to care for transplant patients, the NMDP has developed an app with leading transplant organizations to help increase survival rates. For more information, please go to Post BMT Discharge Instructions.

Join the Fight Against Cancer

By donating platelets and blood you can join the fight and directly impact the healthcare of patients being treated at NSH-BMT/Leukemia by donating with Atlanta Blood Services. To donate or find out additional information please go to http://www.atlantabloodservices.com/index.htm Or Click here to Like ABS on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/atlantabloodservices