RESEARCHERS OF BLOOD DISEASES AT THE JOHN THEURER CANCER CENTER CO-AUTHOR A RECORD 26 PRESENTATIONS AT ANNUAL MEETING
January 15, 2009 02:00 PM
HACKENSACK, N.J., Jan. 14, 2009—Some of today’s most exciting and most promising medical research into blood cancers and other blood abnormalities is being conducted at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, New Jersey’s largest and one of the nation’s most active cancer centers. This is evidenced by a record 26 oral and published studies co-authored by John Theurer cancer researchers that were accepted for presentation at the 50th anniversary meeting of the American Society of Hematology. This number of publications is the largest number accepted from any cancer center in New Jersey and the largest ever presented at the society’s annual meeting by the John Theurer Cancer Center.
The American Society of Hematology is the nation’s leading association of practitioners who research and treat diseases of the blood. The 50th anniversary meeting was held in December in San Francisco and was attended by 21,000 clinicians and scientists from all over the world.
The 26 John Theurer Cancer Center presentations involve the investigation of hematologic cancers and blood disorders – including leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndromes – and ways to improve the treatment of them, including stem cell transplantation.
“Our basic and clinical research teams have been at the forefront of hematologic research for the past 30 years and are responsible for major treatment breakthroughs, including stem cell transplantation and novel targeted therapies for leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma,” says Andrew L. Pecora, M.D., chairman and executive administrative director of the John Theurer Cancer Center. “As the American Society of Hematology celebrates its 50th anniversary, we stand ready to advance the knowledge of hematologic malignancies and to develop treatment innovations for our current patients and those who will come to us in the future.”
The 26 John Theurer Cancer Center presentations include studies of new medications, treatment combinations, and treatment protocols as well as investigations of the immunology of one of the most common complications of stem cell transplantation, graft-versus-host disease. Co-authors of the studies include:
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Andrew L. Pecora, M.D., chairman and executive administrative director of the Cancer Center, and a specialist in stem cell transplantation and cancer vaccines;
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Andre H. Goy, M.D., deputy director of the Cancer Center, chief of the Division of Lymphoma, medical director of the Tissue Bank, and an international authority on Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas;
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Stuart L. Goldberg, M.D., chief of the Division of Leukemia and a nationwide expert in the treatment of leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes;
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David S. Siegel, M.D., chief of the Division of Multiple Myeloma and one of the country’s leading researchers of the disease;
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Scott D. Rowley, M.D., director of the Adult Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation Program, one of the 10 largest in the United States;
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Robert Korngold, Ph.D., chief of the Division of Research, whose work in 1978 led to the finding that T cells cause graft-versus-host disease, a major discovery that revolutionized bone marrow and stem cell transplantation;
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Thea M. Friedman, Ph.D., director of laboratory research, who has been conducting basic research in graft-versus-host disease for more than 20 years;
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Michele L. Donato, M.D., medical director of the apheresis program, who is an expert on using photopheresis to fight graft-versus-host disease following stem cell transplantation;
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Tatyana Feldman, M.D., a hematologist/oncologist who specializes in leukemia and lymphoma;
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Aisha Masood, M.D., a hematologist/oncologist who specializes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia; and
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Nikoletta Lendvai, M.D., a hematologist/oncologist who specializes in multiple myeloma.
The 26 papers included basic and clinical research studies in stem cell collection and transplantation procedures, graft-versus-host disease, myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myeloid leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, T-cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, B-cell lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. All of the papers were selected by a panel of judges that included physicians and research scientists. All were published in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. To view any one of the published studies co-authored by John Theurer cancer researchers presented at the 50th anniversary meeting of the American Society of Hematology, go to www.humccancer.org.
The John Theurer Cancer Center provides extraordinary cancer care by offering multidisciplinary care, personalized treatment, innovative research, superior outcomes, and patient satisfaction within 14 disease-specific, treatment, or research divisions. For more information about the Cancer Center, call 201-996-5900 or visit www.humccancer.org.
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