Tom Synder, host of NBC's The Tomorrow Show passed away on Sunday from leukemia. Synder told the world on his webpage in 2005 that he had been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

The Tomorrow show aired in 1972 after The Tonight show with Johnny Carson. In 1995 he returned to late night TV starring in The Late Late show with Tom Synder.

His longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz said "He was a great guy and very talented".

The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 16,600 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Bone pain is the most common early symptom of myeloma. Most patients feel pain in their back or ribs, but it can occur in any bone. The pain is usually made worse by movement.

Patients fatigue more easily and often feel weak. They may also have a pale complexion from anemia which is a common medical problem for patients with myeloma and may contribute to the fatigue. If the disease progresses, the concentration of normal cells in the blood may also decrease. Headaches, bruising, nose bleeding, gastrointestinal bleeding, and tingling or numbness in extremities are all symptoms of myeloma.

Patients may have repeated infections because antibodies to invading viruses, bacteria or other disease agents are not made efficiently of in adequate amounts. Urinary tract, bronchial, lung, skin, or other sites of infection may be the first sign of the disease. In addition, recurrent infections may complicate the course of the disease.

Certain diseases and ailments, when treated, can cause a long and often painful recovery as the body works its way back to normalcy and everyday functioning. There are fewer recovery periods where nutrition is as important as after a major transplant.

After all, nutrition gives the body fuel and allows for the tools to make the body function as normally as it should, although the "nutrition toolbox" these days can be severely lacking in many normal citizens -- along with patients undergoing care.

Bone marrow transplants are commonly being used today for the treatment of blood cancers and other maladies, and as the body regenerates its immune system after the process, nutritional needs are more important than ever. What are these needs, you may ask? Head over to The Diet Channel and find out.

As if being involved in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centers wasn't horrific enough, it's now appearing as if people present at the WTC on that world-changing day have higher than normal rates of lymphatic and blood cancers, as reported on our sister site, That's Fit. This comes as a particularly harsh blow, since it's also been shown that 70% of this group also suffers from respiratory illnesses. But the true impact of this correlation won't be evident for years to come, when the disease may become present in many not currently affected.

I can't help but be reminded of the aftermath of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII, when what was at first a tragedy of epic proportions was made by the realization that people would continue to suffer the effects for many years to come.

The world is such a cruel, unfair place sometimes.

In the January issue of Blood, a study shows that in rare cases of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), treatment with Gleevec can be discontinued.

The researchers think that some patients treated with Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) that go into extended remissions can stop the drug. They add that patients continue strict monitoring for relapse.

Twelve patients were put into remission with Gleevec for over two years. Six of these patients experienced a relapse within five months after being taken off the drug. When Gleevec was restarted, residual disease again declined.

The other six patients remain in remission after nine to twenty four months follow up.

Despite these results the researchers say 'we do not widely recommend imatinib discontinuation at the present time".

I do have a few questions myself that the article did not address:

Does Gleevec have severe side effects that warrants stopping it at all?

Do they think that Gleevec can potentially cure the patient and some might be able to stop treatment all together?

Noxafil (posaconazole), an anti- fungal agent may be better than other anti-fungals in helping cancer patients that have GVHD.

GVHD, graft-versus host disease, is a potential complication that can happen after a stem cell transplant. What is really happening is that the new stem cells given from a donor are now giving the patient a chance to build a new immune system--hopefully one that will give a cure. The foreign immune system can begin to attack the cancer patients body that received the transplant. Just like your immune system might reject a heart transplant, the new immune system is seeing the organs of the body as foreign and attack.

To combat this from happening the patients are usually given agents that suppress the immune system. This however, can then cause infections that can quickly develop into a life threatening situation. Researchers are continuing to look for ways to combat the infections that arise.

Noxafil was compared to Diflucan in a study of 600 patients with GVHD who were also receiving therapy to suppress their immune system. The anti-fungal agent that won out was Noxafil for the prevention of fungal infections.

Sprycel is an oral agent that has recently been approved by the FDA. It works by stopping the production of proteins involved in cancer growth.

The American Society of Hematology presented results that stated that treatment with Sprycel (dasatinib) provides better outcomes compared to giving higher doses of Gleevec (imatinib), in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), who have stopped responding to standard doses of Gleevec.

In the clinical trial the patients were either treated with Sprycel or increased doses of Gleevec to see who had the better response.

Study results indicated:

• Patients who had achieved a major anticancer response with the standard dose of Gleevec initially, achieved a 35 percent complete response to Sprycel, compared with only 7 percent of those treated with the increased doses of Gleevec.
• Patients who did not receive a major anticancer response with the standard dose of Gleevec initially, achieved a 44 percent major anticancer response to Sprycel, compared to only 7 percent of those treated with the increased doses of Gleevec.
• The main side effect of Sprycel was low levels of blood cells, which may be partly corrected with the use of Neulasta.

The research has concluded that Sprycel provides superior responses to increased-doses of Gleevec among patients with chronic-phase CML who have stopped responding to prior Gleevec therapy.

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a complication that can occur after a stem cell transplant. GvHD occurs when infection-fighting cells from the donor recognize the patient's body as being different or foreign. These infection-fighting cells then attack tissues in the patient's body just as if they were attacking an infection. GvHD is often treated with steroids, though this does not always work. GvHD is a serious condition with a high death rate so researchers are constantly evaluating new ways to treat it or reduce the symptoms.

European researchers conducted a study to see if a certain type of stem cell, infused into patients with GvHD that are not responding to treatment, would be effective. Patients were treated with mesenchymal stem cells, that are specific types of stems cells that are collected from the bone marrow of a donor. These stem cells are thought to help suppress the donor's immune cells and reduce the risk of GvHD.

The researcher found that 68 percent of the patients responded, children having slightly better results. They concluded that treatment with mesenchymal stem cells appears to effectively treat recurrent GvHD that would otherwise have been fatal in a majority of patients.

Children that undergo bone marrow transplants can develop life threatening infections while the immune system is trying to regenerating itself. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital thinks they have found a better way to harvest stem cells that are more vigorous in reproducing and rebuilding the immune system. These stem cells would reduce the time it takes for the immune system to rebuild--reducing the risk of infection.

When harvesting the donated bone marrow a specific antibody is used to find the vigorous stem cells that mature and reproduce faster. They found that using a new antibody along with the one already used might prove to have better results in capturing the best stem cells needed. This could help the donated bone marrow to take hold faster and lessen the risk of the time children are exposed to serious infections.

Although the studies so far have been done on mice, the researchers believe that this is promising information that with further studies can translate into better treatment for children that need to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

At one time, patients with blood cancers were treated with harsh drugs, like interferon or hydroxyurea, yet only two to three percent would ever achieve any sort of remission. Many would suffer such extreme side effects from these drugs they would stop taking the medication early, decreasing even further their potential odds for survival.

The fate of these patients is changing. And the proof is in print -- in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

It all began with the study of a highly targeted molecular therapy called STI571 -- designed to block the genetic aberration that gives rise to chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a disease that affects about 6,000 Americans every year. A clinical trial followed, and a compound marketed by the drug company Novartis emerged. Today, this compound is know as Gleevec.

In the clinical trial of Gleevec, 1,106 CML patients were randomly chosen to receive either Gleevec or Interferon. Early results were so encouraging that all but three percent of the participants using Interferon switched to Gleevec. Five-year survival rates were 89 percent. And 93 percent of patients saw no progression to the acute phase of the disease. Many patients witnessed their blood counts return to normal, and a large number experienced a reverse in the gene mutation that causes CML. Virtually no one reported side effects while using the drug.

Despite a rare reaction that can cause heart failure, Gleevec has now been approved by the FDA for the treatment of six other rare, life-threatening disorders. And other drugs similar in nature to Gleevec are hitting the scene. Some believe long-term suppression of CML will come from a cocktail of these types of drugs.

For now, Gleevec -- on its own -- is a success story.

Epoetin Alfa is a man made drug that treats anemia. It stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. Chemotherapy can cause the levels of red blood cells to drop which in turn can cause anemia. Anemia occurs when the level of healthy red blood cells in the blood becomes too low. This can lead to health problems since red blood cells carry hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the tissues of the body. Anemia can cause a variety of complications, including fatigue and stress on bodily organs.

A study was done that showed that if oncologists gave the drug before the levels were to drop the patients had better quality of life after receiving chemotherapy. Patients with hematologic malignancies seemed to have a better sense of wellbeing and less fatigue if they received epoetin alfa before chemotherapy starts. The study was published in the October 15th issue of Cancer.

The drug Vidaza (azacitadine) can be an effective treatment for those elderly patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who cannot tolerate standard treatments, according to the journal Cancer. Treatment for AML patients often starts off with induction chemotherapy followed by consolidation therapy. The induction therapy usually consists of chemotherapy that will provide complete remission. The consolidation therapy is further treatment to help prevent recurrence.

There haven't been many strides in recent years for elderly patients diagnosed with AML. Some of these patients do not seem to be able to tolerate the same treatments given to younger patients diagnosed with the disease.

Vidaza has not been extensively studied with AML but is the first drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for myelodysplastic syndromes. It does have promise to help those who cannot tolerate standard treatments for AML. Researchers at the Western Pennsylvania Cancer Institute developed a trial that included 20 patients older than 55. Sixty percent of the 20 patients had anticancer responses. The patients that did respond to Vidaza were still alive at 15 months, compared to only 2.5 months for those who did not respond to the drug.

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) was founded in 1824 in Charleston. MUSC started a Blood and Marrow Transplant Program (BMT) in 1987 and has performed its 700th transplant for patients with benign and malignant hematological disorders.

MUSC continues its excellence after 80 years in education, research, and patient care. They have the only unrelated-donors program in the state and it is the only location in the state for pediatric cord blood transplants.

Those who wish to donate bone marrow, call 1-800-Marrow-2. Bone marrow donations save many lives. A match for a patient in need is so important. The better the match the better the patient has the chance of having a successful bone marrow transplant.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is uncommon in adults between 15 and 50 years of age but occurs more frequently in individuals over 50 years of age. The Philadelphia chromosome is a specific gene mutation that occurs in about 20 percent of all ALL cases. The Philadelphia chromosome occurs when specific genetic information is switched. Patients who are Philadelphia chromosome positive typically do not respond well to standard therapies.

Researchers want to find new strategies to improve outcomes for Philadelphia chromosome positive ALL patients. Gleevec has shown some anticancer responses in these patients who no longer responded to standard treatments.

According to a study was done and published in the journal Leukemia, the survival at one year was 66 percent for those patients who received chemotherapy and Gleevec. Among comparison subjects the survival at one year was 43 percent.

What also sounded very promising was that the probability of surviving for one year without a relapse was 58 percent for those in the study and only 11 percent among comparison patients.

President George Bush vetoed a bill that would have allowed surplus embryos from fertility clinics to be used in research. This decision will cause slowing of cures for several major diseases including cancer.

If politicians say they support stem cell research then it doesn't necessarily mean that they support embryonic stem cell research which is the one that holds the greatest promise for the most diseases.

It was five years ago that President Bush 'allowed' research on the 60 existing stem cell lines. It didn't sway his decision however that we now know that these lines are not going to help us with human diseases.

I would say more of what I think about President Bush's decision but then people might start going out and burning my music CD's.

Oh .. wait .. I don't have any music CD's!