CLINICAL NEWS
“The high rate of rapid responses sug-
gests that pomalidomide can have a role
in combination with other agents also in
upfront treatment,” the authors concluded.
The study’s implications, though, are limited
by its small patient population and lack of a
comparator arm.
REFERENCE
Palladini G, Milani P, Foli A, et al. A phase II trial of pomalidomide and
dexamethasone rescue treatment in patients with AL amyloidosis.
Blood. 2017 January 27. [Epub ahead of print]
Can Podoplanin Explain the Connection Between
Brain Tumors and Venous Thromboembolism?
Podoplanin, a sialomucin-like glycoprotein
that can induce blood platelet activation, is
frequently expressed by primary brain tumors.
Its overexpression can contribute to a greater
risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among
patients with brain tumors, according to a report
published in Blood.
“The risk of developing VTE was ap-
proximately six times higher in patients with
high-podoplanin-expressing tumors compared
to patients with podoplanin-negative tumors,”
reported Julia Riedl, MD, from the Clinical
Division of Hematology and Hemostaseology
at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria,