As clinicians, we often assume that continuous treatment will always be more effective because you're simply giving more treatment, but this study shows that is not necessarily the case. The results provide the first evidence that fixed-duration treatment, which patients often prefer, is indeed non-inferior to continuous treatment, suggesting clinically equal efficacy." Othman Al Sawaf, MD, lead study author, hematologist and medical oncologist, University of Cologne, Germany CLL is the most common adult leukemia in which abnormal white blood cells grow out of control and build up in the bone marrow Three classes of agents have been developed that target CLL: Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors, BCL2 inhibitors, and CD20 antibodies. Those assigned to the "I" arm received continuous ibrutinib (a BTK inhibitor) indefinitely unless they experienced disease progression or unacceptable side effects. At the time of analysis, the median follow-up period was 34 months, with a range of zero to 49 months. Between-group differences fell below the pre-specified threshold for non-inferiority, meeting the study's primary endpoint for this time point. The group receiving continuous ibrutinib treatment had a lower rate of complete response to treatment, an endpoint that was achieved in only 8.3% of the I arm compared with 51.5% in the VO arm and 46.2% in the VI arm. In addition, none of the patients receiving continuous ibrutinib achieved the status of undetectable measurable residual disease (MRD), a biomarker indicating that all or nearly all cancer cells have been eliminated. "The secondary endpoints are surrogate parameters for us to assume long-term efficacy," said Dr. Al Sawaf. "With the fixed-duration paradigm, we see higher rates of complete response and MRD responses, and with the continuous single-agent treatment we see lower complete response and MRD responses." Rates of side effects were overall similar across study arms, with the most common issues being infections and gastrointestinal disorders. Blood and lymphatic system disorders, cardiac disorders, and second cancers were also somewhat frequent across all arms. Subgroup analyses showed that cardiovascular issues were more common among patients who received ibrutinib, especially among those who took ibrutinib for a longer duration. In addition, Dr. Al Sawaf said that other studies are underway to identify biomarkers that might help doctors determine which patients are most likely to benefit from each treatment strategy. This study was simultaneously published in NEJM. Othman Al Sawaf, MD, of the University of Cologne, will present this study on Sunday, December 7, 2025, at 2:05 p.m. Eastern time during the Plenary Scientific Session in West Hall D2 of the Orange County Convention Center. Discover how real-time cell density monitoring boosts yield, lowers media costs, and improves viability in bioprocessing. Discover how electron microscopy advances plant and microbial research with expert insights from the John Innes Centre's bioimaging facility. Discover how Abselion's Amperia™ platform delivers fast, reproducible His-tagged protein quantification with minimal prep, even from crude lysates. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. To start a conversation, please log into your AZoProfile account first, or create a new account. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. Please check the box above to proceed. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Screening rates went from 10% to over 60% within a year. Two-thirds of pregnant patients screened were found to be iron deficient, indicating that this is a very common, but readily fixable problem." Richard Godby, MD, lead author, hematologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota Women of child-bearing age are at high risk for iron deficiency. In addition, some commonly used medications, such as proton pump inhibitors, can inhibit the body's ability to absorb iron. Iron deficiency and anemia during pregnancy have been associated with adverse outcomes such as fetal growth restriction, premature birth, low birth weight, and compromised development of the fetus's brain and nervous system. Iron deficiency can be diagnosed with a blood test for ferritin, a protein that enables the body to store iron. However, guidelines from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology – the professional society that represents most U.S. doctors in this specialty – currently recommend iron deficiency screening only for pregnant women with anemia, which they define as a hemoglobin level below 11 g/dL in the first or third trimester. Dr. Godby and his colleagues worked with a multidisciplinary team at the Mayo Clinic to develop and implement a quality improvement project aimed at standardizing the screening and treatment of iron deficiency in pregnancy. If patients' ferritin was low at 24 to 28 weeks, the teams offered them an IV infusion of iron dextran. Results showed that, in the Before cohort, just 10% of patients underwent ferritin testing, compared with 63% in the After cohort. Among patients who received IV iron infusions, the median hemoglobin level improved from 10.7 to 11.8 g/dL. Patients whose hemoglobin level was 12 g/dL at study entry (above the cutoff of 11 g/dL to be considered anemic according to current guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) saw an increase to 12.8 g/dL. Most patients who needed blood transfusions had not been tested for iron deficiency. While this difference was not statistically significant, Dr. Godby said, it suggests that a reduction in the need for post-partum blood transfusions could be an additional benefit of treating iron deficiency during pregnancy. Dr. Godby noted that nearly all of the patients in both the Before and After cohorts took prenatal vitamins, which are recommended during pregnancy and supposed to contain iron. Over-the-counter dietary supplements are not regulated to ensure they contain the ingredients and amounts of ingredients claimed by the manufacturers, he said. As a next step, the team hopes to analyze whether treating iron deficiency in pregnancy improves patients' quality of life by enabling them to feel better, experience less post-partum depression, return to work sooner, and more. Richard Godby, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, will present this study on Sunday, December 7, 2025, at 12:00 noon Eastern time in W304A-D of the Orange County Convention Center. Discover how real-time cell density monitoring boosts yield, lowers media costs, and improves viability in bioprocessing. Discover how electron microscopy advances plant and microbial research with expert insights from the John Innes Centre's bioimaging facility. Discover how Abselion's Amperia™ platform delivers fast, reproducible His-tagged protein quantification with minimal prep, even from crude lysates. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Patients who underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation for sickle cell disease saw high rates of survival without disease symptoms and low rates of severe side effects or complications years after their procedure, according to a new study. The study included over 1,000 patients, representing the largest and most comprehensive analysis of long-term transplant outcomes to date in people living with sickle cell disease. A majority of patients in this cohort are alive; the transplant worked so they no longer show symptoms of their sickle cell disease, and most have had no late effects post-transplant. There are families that really want to know the data, and this will be among the largest and most statistically well-powered studies that can provide this information to patients we are counseling about transplant." Hematopoietic cell transplantation can eliminate symptoms of sickle cell disease by giving patients the ability to make healthy blood cells instead of ones prone to sickling. Long-term outcomes from hematopoietic cell transplantation, as it is currently practiced, have not been well studied in people living with sickle cell disease. In particular, it is unknown whether patients may face unique long-term effects of chemotherapy conditioning due to sickle cell disease-related organ damage. Researchers analyzed data from 1,013 patients who received a hematopoietic cell transplant at 112 medical centers in the United States and internationally between 1996 to 2022. Procedures that resulted in primary graft failure (meaning that the donor stem cells did not persist early after transplant) were excluded from the data set. At seven years post-transplant, 90% of transplant recipients remained alive, 83% were alive and had experienced no issues with transplant rejection, and 63% were alive without having experienced any late rejection or severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a condition in which the transplanted donor cells attack the recipient's body. Most patients (86%) remained free from sickle cell disease symptoms with hemoglobin S levels at or below 50%, and most (74%) had no sickle cell disease-related complications reported at any time point post-transplant. Excluding infections, the most common late effects of transplant were those affecting the liver (seen in 10% of patients at seven years post-transplant), lungs (8%), reproductive organs (6%), and pancreas (i.e., diabetes; 6%). Remaining free of GVHD was also significantly associated with better long-term outcomes. Given its uniquely large sample with heterogenous transplant characteristics, researchers said that the study findings can help families and doctors make informed decisions about whether – and when – to pursue a transplant. "This study can provide more concrete data about [the risks and benefits] if transplant is undertaken early versus waiting," said Dr. Stenger. "Right now, allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is the only known and available option for this population capable of eliminating the full spectrum of disease symptoms. Especially if we do it while patients are young or before the onset of organ damage, these patients can go on to live much more normal lives." "From a clinical standpoint, [it reinforces] the need to make sure these patients are having the recommended annual follow-up to screen and monitor for late effects so that if they are happening, we can catch them early and hopefully prevent them from becoming symptomatic and more clinically significant," said Dr. Stenger. Since the study relied on data provided to a registry, researchers noted that the level of detail is somewhat limited for some factors. Researchers are now working to compare survival outcomes among people living with sickle cell disease who received a hematopoietic cell transplant versus those who did not receive a transplant including those who received disease-modifying treatment. Dr. Stenger said that additional insights on potential late effects could be gained through future studies with a longer follow-up period. Discover how real-time cell density monitoring boosts yield, lowers media costs, and improves viability in bioprocessing. Discover how electron microscopy advances plant and microbial research with expert insights from the John Innes Centre's bioimaging facility. Discover how Abselion's Amperia™ platform delivers fast, reproducible His-tagged protein quantification with minimal prep, even from crude lysates. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.