People immunocompromised through lymphoma benefit from increasing numbers of COVID-19 booster vaccines, according to a new study. The PROSECO study involved about 500 patients with lymphoma recruited at nine hospitals in England in 2021 and 2022. Samples of blood were tested for antibody levels and T-cell responses before any COVID vaccine, and then after their first, second, third, and fourth…

A group of blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes are commonly misdiagnosed, researchers have found, which they believe has serious implications for patients, clinical trials, and disease registries. Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a diverse group of blood cancers, which can be difficult to diagnose. Survival rates for these conditions range from over a decade to less than one year,…

Fertility may decline at an early age among women who were treated for childhood Hodgkin’s lymphoma, new research presented at a major fertility conference has suggested. Dutch research, presented at the 39th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), in Copenhagen, Denmark, found that while these women may have to try for longer to become pregnant, the…

Patients with cancer remain at significant risk from COVID – with those with blood cancers at the greatest risk, British researchers have warned. The pandemic had a significant effect on cancer care globally. Although risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID has fallen over time, those with cancer are still at heightened risk, according to the new study. Researchers looked at COVID outcomes…

Anaemia cases among women and children remain stubbornly high worldwide, according to a major new analysis. Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Seattle, USA, and collaborators from the Global Burden of Disease analysed global anaemia data from 1990–2021. The analysis has revealed a complex picture of how key factors play into the divergence in success stories…

A new study has moved researchers a step forward towards using specialised T cells from umbilical cord blood for treating blood cancers. Gamma delta (γδ) T cells have a special form of the T cell receptor, and have already been tested for their action against a number of cancer cell types. Pre-clinical research has found that γδ T cells may improve disease-free survival in patients with…

Researchers are calling for genetic tests to be widely used in order to prevent bias against patients of African heritage. Professor Nancy Cox of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, and colleagues explain that many African Americans undergo painful and expensive bone marrow biopsies due to low white cell counts – an indicator of a range of possible…