ORLANDO — Palliative care for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma has significantly improved over the past several years, but disparities persist based on race, insurance and hospital characteristics.
Study results, presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, showed white patients received palliative care consultations three times more often than Black patients and more than double the rate of Hispanic patients.
Additionally, individuals treated at urban teaching hospitals had a significantly higher likelihood of receiving palliative care consultations, whereas those treated at rural clinics had

ORLANDO — Black race is an independent prognostic factor for shorter survival in acute myeloid leukemia independent of cytogenetic profiles, according to study results presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
A review of nearly 4,000 clinical trial participants showed no significant difference in European LeukemiaNet (ELN) 2017 risk scores or prevalence of cytogenetic abnormalities based on race.
“Prior studies showed Black patients with AML did not fare as well as white patients, so I was not surprised to see a racial disparity in survival outcomes,” Shella Saint Fleur-Lominy, MD, PhD,

ORLANDO — IV iron administration has historically been a “controversial issue” for treatment of iron deficiency anemia during acute infections, but data presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition detailed significant survival benefits.
IV iron substantially reduced mortality at 2 weeks and 3 months for multiple infections, including MRSA bacteremia, pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTI), cellulitis and colitis, according to results of a retrospective cohort analysis.
Additionally, patients who received IV iron had significant improvements in hemoglobin levels.
“It was a big surprise,”

ORLANDO — A multidisciplinary quality improvement initiative may establish a framework to better identify and address iron deficiency in pregnancy.
The approach resulted in a sixfold increase in screening and a 20-fold increase in the number of IV iron dextran infusions administered, findings presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition showed. The infusions increased median hemoglobin levels by more than 1 g/dL and reduced the need for transfusions upon admission for delivery.
“Iron deficiency in pregnancy is underrecognized and undertreated,” Richard C. Godby, MD, a hematologist and

ORLANDO — A specific graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis regimen may expand allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant access to nearly all patients in need, according to study results presented at ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) conferred favorable outcomes for patients who received peripheral blood stem cell grafts from mismatched unrelated donors regardless of the extent of HLA allele mismatch.
Patients who received grafts from unrelated donors matched at as few as 4/8 HLA markers achieved similar rates of survival, relapse and nonrelapse