The latest medical research on Blood Cancer

The research magnet gathers the latest research from around the web, based on your specialty area. Below you will find a sample of some of the most recent articles from reputable medical journals about blood cancer gathered by our medical AI research bot.

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The relationship between cumulative risk and health-related quality of life in youth with sickle cell disease: Moderating effects of secondary control engagement coping.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) often experience low health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Engagement in resilience-promoting processes, such as secondary control engagement (SCE) coping, or adapting to stressors, may be linked to contextual risk factors (e.g., poverty status). This study aims to illuminate relationships between a cumulative risk index (CRI), SCE coping, and HRQOL in youth with SCD and test whether SCE coping moderates the relationship between CRI and HRQOL.

Participants in this cross-sectional study included 63 youth ages 8-18 with SCD. Participants completed measures to assess SCE coping use (Responses to Stress Questionnaire) and HRQOL (PedsQL SCD Module). Six variables from the electronic medical record were compiled in a CRI. Correlational and regression analyses examined relationships between primary variables and moderating effects of SCE coping, respectively.

Model results show that SCE coping and CRI explain variation in HRQOL (p = .001), and a significant interaction exists between SCE and CRI (β = -.29, p = .02), with a stronger inverse relationship between CRI and HRQOL for higher SCE values. This suggests that lower CRI is associated with greater HRQOL for those with higher SCE coping relative to lower SCE coping.

SCE coping may selectively benefit children with SCD experiencing lower cumulative risk, warranting encouragement of this strategy in clinical settings. Findings do not support SCE coping benefits for youth with higher risk, suggesting that the strategy may not be useful when risk-related stressors are especially pervasive; alternative protective factors should be identified for this risk group.

PTCy versus ATG as graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in mismatched unrelated stem cell transplantation.

Blood Cancer

There is an increased risk of GVHD and of non-relapse mortality (NRM) after allogeneic stem cell transplantations (alloSCT) when mismatched unrelat...

Enoxaparin thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized obese pediatric patients.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Enoxaparin is an anticoagulant used for pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis in pediatrics. Enoxaparin pharmacokinetics can be altered in the setting of obesity. Optimal enoxaparin dosing for thromboprophylaxis in children with obesity remains unclear.

A retrospective review was conducted of pediatric patients who weighed ≥60 kg with BMI ≥ 95th percentile, received enoxaparin for thromboprophylaxis, and had at least one appropriately drawn anti-factor Xa (anti-Xa) from 2013 to 2022. Anti-Xa levels were reviewed for patients initially treated with enoxaparin 30 mg every 12 h. The average daily enoxaparin dose required to achieve an anti-Xa of 0.2-0.4 unit/mL, which was stratified by BMI percentile and weight, was calculated.

Of 116 patients (median age 15.8 years) included for analysis, 106 patients were initially treated with enoxaparin 30 mg every 12 h. Anti-Xa levels were <0.2 unit/mL in 53% of patients with BMI > 99th percentile and 54% of patients >100 kg. Ninety-one patients had at least one anti-Xa 0.2-0.4 unit/mL with an average daily enoxaparin dosing of 66 mg. When stratified by severity of obesity, higher doses were required to attain an anti-Xa 0.2-0.4 unit/mL in patients with BMI > 99th percentile compared with those with 95th-99th percentile (67.8 ± 15.7 vs. 62 ± 5.6 mg/day, p = .01). Patients > 100 kg required significantly higher dose than those ≤100 kg (69.1 ± 15.5 vs 61.2 ± 7.3 mg/day, p = .002).

Increased initial dosing and/or anti-Xa level monitoring should be considered in adolescents with severe obesity receiving enoxaparin thromboprophylaxis.

Sequelae and post-thrombotic syndrome after venous thromboembolism in acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors treated on the NOPHO ALL2008 protocol.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

The treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is frequently complicated by toxicity, including venous thromboembolism (VTE) affecting roughly...

Description of a national, multi-center registry of patients with sickle cell disease and SARS-CoV-2 infection: Data from the Pediatric COVID-19 United States Registry.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at risk of complications from viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2. We present the clinical character...

Social impairment in survivors of pediatric brain tumors via reduced social attention and emotion-specific facial expression recognition.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Survivors of pediatric brain tumors (SPBT) experience significant social challenges, including fewer friends and greater isolation than peers. Difficulties in face processing and visual social attention have been implicated in these outcomes. This study evaluated facial expression recognition (FER), social attention, and their associations with social impairments in SPBT.

SPBT (N = 54; ages 7-16) at least 2 years post treatment completed a measure of FER, while parents completed measures of social impairment. A subset (N = 30) completed a social attention assessment that recorded eye gaze patterns while watching videos depicting pairs of children engaged in joint play. Social Prioritization scores were calculated, with higher scores indicating more face looking. Correlations and regression analyses evaluated associations between variables, while a path analysis modeling tool (PROCESS) evaluated the indirect effects of Social Prioritization on social impairments through emotion-specific FER.

Poorer recognition of angry and sad facial expressions was significantly correlated with greater social impairment. Social Prioritization was positively correlated with angry FER but no other emotions. Social Prioritization had significant indirect effects on social impairments through angry FER.

Findings suggest interventions aimed at improving recognition of specific emotions may mitigate social impairments in SPBT. Further, reduced social attention (i.e., diminished face looking) could be a factor in reduced face processing ability, which may result in social impairments. Longitudinal research is needed to elucidate temporal associations between social attention, face processing, and social impairments.

Single centre experience of the use of emicizumab in previously untreated and minimally treated patients under 18 months of age.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Emicizumab has revolutionised haemophilia A treatment landscape and significantly reduced treatment burden, particularly in the paediatric populati...

Prevalence of Duffy null and its impact on hydroxyurea in young children with sickle cell disease in the United States.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Consistent with studies showing a high prevalence of the Duffy null phenotype among healthy Black Americans, this retrospective study found that Du...

Feasibility study of micronutrient status and body mass index of newly diagnosed pediatric oncology patients: Research commentary.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

We conducted a feasibility study to evaluate micronutrients and body mass index (BMI). Fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and trace elements copper (Cu),...

Adequate menstrual suppression in adolescents with inherited bleeding disorders often requires multiple treatment changes: Retrospective cohort study of a multidisciplinary clinic.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) is often the presenting symptom for females with inherited bleeding disorders (IBD). Multidisciplinary clinics lever...

Pediatric splenic infarction: Assessment of associated clinical conditions and outcome.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Pediatric splenic infarction (SI) is rare yet clinically significant. Publications regarding this complication are mostly limited to case reports. ...

Real-world experience of direct oral anticoagulant use in a single pediatric center.

Pediatric Blood and Cancer

Pediatric venous thromboembolism has increased by 130%-200%, specifically in hospitalized children, and direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) offer several therapeutic advantages.

This study aims to evaluate the real-world epidemiological and outcome data from a retrospective review of pediatric patients treated with DOACs from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2022. In this single-center, IRB-approved study, 65 patients were identified and analyzed using SPSS statistical software, and a descriptive statistical analysis was conducted.

Of the 65 patients, 37% were on apixaban, 61.5% were on rivaroxaban, and 1.5% were on dabigatran. Per the 2023 ISTH outcome definitions, one (2%) patient had a major bleeding episode, six (9%) had clinically relevant non-major bleeding, three (5%) patients had patient-important heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), and one (1.5%) patient had minor bleeding. Seven (19%) of 37 postmenarchal patients had evidence of HMB. Six (9.2%) patients had recurrent venous thromboembolism while on a DOAC (one was on apixaban, and five were on rivaroxaban) and were transitioned to other forms of anticoagulation.

Thus, bleeding rates after DOAC therapy are comparable to previous DOAC trials, as well as other anticoagulants in pediatrics. HMB is an important outcome measure and should continue to be investigated. This study reports a higher rate of recurrent thrombosis (9.2%) compared to other trials. However, this observation may be attributed to patients who had ongoing risk factors, as well as a longer duration of study follow-up. Additional multicentered outcome studies evaluating DOAC use in children are needed to determine long-term recurrence and HMB risks.