Ottawa Doctors make a Breakthrough in Fighting Leukemia

Doctors David Conrad and John Bell have developed a tiny nano-particle that causes human blood cancer cells to kill themselves.

This is very interesting, and though like any "breakthrough" it is early days and there is much more testing and research trials to be done. However, at this point, it sounds very promising. Please watch and listen to the short clip on the link below. Dr. David Conrad is being interviewed by CTV.

This is a video link published Aug. 13, 2013 at this CTV News web site:

Dr. David Conrad: ".. We've developed a 'particle-based therapeutic', and we can introduce it intravenously to mice that have leukemia. We've observed that not only is the leukemia eradicated but it sets up an immune response so that relapse does not occur... we set up an 'immune memory' with this treatment."

Wow, this sounds revolutionary - a treatment to kill the cancer, and then even prevent a relapse. Let's hope that this study's finding will be repeated in more trials, so that there will one day be human trials, and similar successful results. Researchers are keeping the hope alive with this study, and the "serial T-Cell" treatment from two years ago in Pennsylvania, and New York labs.

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia ( CML) A good news story for cancer researchers

You're invited to the GEO Centre on Monday, April 2, from 7-10 pm to presentations on CML.

NL Thrombosis, Blood & Immune Disorder Project March 1 Event

If you or someone you know has a blood or immune system health problem like leukemia, myeloma, lymphoma or blood clotting complications, please let them know about event at the Geo Centre. Specialists will speak about these conditions and research being done.

March 1, 2012
7 - 10 p.m.
GEO Centre
St. John’s, NL

Dr. M. Larijani will present “The human immune system; links to
leukemia and lymphoma” and

Dr. R. Chitsike will present “An overview of Venous Thromboembolic
Disease including Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Pulmonary
Embolism (PE)”

This event is open to the public.
The talks will be of interest to health-care professionals,
students, patients with their families and friends.
The lectures will discuss issues of interest for patients
living with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma,
hypercoagulability, deep venous thrombosis
and pulmonary embolism.

Question and answer period to follow presentation.

Cash bar. Refreshments will be provided at 9 p.m.

Refreshments will be served. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Dwindling Family Size Causing Transplant Donor Shortage

Blood cancers like leukemia can be treated and possibly cured through bone marrow or stem cell transplants, but because of smaller family size, the number of sibling donors are declining, and so are the chances of patient survival. If you have leukemia for example, there is a 25% chance that a sibling will be a good enough genetic match to pursue the transplant treatment. The larger the family, the better the odds. However, family size is dwindling, and the chances of a patient getting a family match will be half of what it was only some years ago.

Transplants can save lives, though different hospitals/doctors put the success rate at anywhere between 40-75% or more. The transplant process itself is very risky for the patient, can be an 15% chance of not making it, due to infections on a wiped out immune system. Some transplants are very successful, and return many people back to their normal lives, and others have side effects (graft versus host disease), sometimes life altering follow up problems, while others just do not make it at all.

But the chances of surviving with a transplant is much greater than just from chemo and radiation alone. And, ideally the donor would be a family member, male donors for male recipients preferably too. But with smaller families comes more risks. The other hope is to receive a transplant from an outside donor, and that can save lives too. Sometimes the risks are higher for graft versus host disease complications, but other times, it works well.

So if you are ever inclined to feel like saving a life by being a possible bone marrow or stem cell donor, check out OneMatch to sign up as a donor.
p.s. Many thanks to blood donors for saving thousands of lives each year.

Welcome to the Hemoglobin Mail!

This title began in 2002 while I was undergoing a stem cell transplant, as a treatment for the blood cancer, leukemia. It was a section of a web site where I would update family and friends on my progress and condition.

The site was a distraction of sorts and of course a way to share some information on the disease, bone marrow transplants and graft versus host disease. For a while in 2003 I kept it updated, but while life got busy in somewhat normal ways, this distraction began to lie dormant. Lately, it's been a little distracting that I have not posted much on the disease, cancer and any new and promising research. So it's about bloody time, pardon my hemoglobic pun.

Part of the motivation for turning a past hobby into a blog, is to just share any relative research news I read and hear about. Just in the last several months there have been several new promising research findings that are giving cause for a new hope for treatments. As well, here in St. John's, there will be a launch of a Thrombosis, Blood and Immune Disorder research project on Nov. 9. This blogger will talk briefly at the event, and thought that perhaps any information I write here could possibly be in some small way, encouraging to others faced with blood cancers and the side effects of treatments.

Realistically, I do not expect to write here daily, but will post whenever I learn something interesting, useful and/or positive, and will reply to any comments readers may have. For now, I say welcome, and will write more interesting posts in the days, weeks and hopefully months to come.