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CCCST CLINICAL TRIAL AIDS IN DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MYELOFIBROSIS TREATMENT A clinical trial conducted at Cancer Care Centers of South Texas (CCCST) is improving the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow disorder. The results of the clinical trial involving the drug ruxolitinib (brand name Jakafi) were so promising that the outcome of the trial was published in the March 1 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Myelofibrosis is a progressive, potentially life-threatening bone marrow disorder with limited treatment options. Patients suffer from bone marrow failure and enlarged spleen, as well as debilitating symptoms including easy bleeding, bruising, infections, bone pain, fatigue, severe itching and night sweats. Symptoms lead to an impaired qual- ity of life, and myelofibrosis can also lead to leukemia or lymphoma. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ruxolitinib in December 2011 for the treatment of myelofibrosis. As shown in the results of the clinical trial, ruxolitinib provided significant benefits to patients, including reducing spleen size, ameliorating debilitating symptoms and improving overall survival. Roger M. Lyons, M.D., FACP, a nationally recognized hematologist with CCCST, served as the principal investigator for the clinical 16 | San Antonio MD NEWS ■ MDNEWS.COM Roger M. Lyons, M.D. trial locally and as a co-author of the NEJM article. The international clinical trial involved 89 sites in the United States, Canada and Australia, including US Oncology Research, the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, Weill Cornell Medical Center, Duke University, Washington University and Stanford Cancer Institute. MSTH LIVER TRANSPLANT PROGRAM RECOGNIZED AS NATION'S BEST The Liver Transplant Program at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital (MSTH), a campus of Methodist Hospital, has been rec- ognized as the best liver transplant program in the country, based on data recently re- leased by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). This is the first time a San Antonio hospital has ranked first in the United States for liver transplant outcomes. The MSTH program has the best one-year patient survival rate in the United States among patients with the most seriously advanced liver disease, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN)/SRTR Annual Data Report. Nationally, the MSTH program is in the top 10% for three-year survival rates. The program has continuously maintained the best one- and three-year patient survival rates in Texas for the past 4.5 years. The most recent statistics show a 97.56% survival rate for patients one year after their transplants (82 patients) and 86.57% for patients (57 patients) three years after their transplants. No other San Antonio hospital ranks in the top 10 in either category. "Key to becoming the top program in the country is having a hospital and staff devoted to abdominal transplant surgeries with both outpatient and inpatient services," says Preston F. Foster, M.D., FACS, Surgical Director of the Liver Disease and Transplant Program at Texas Transplant Institute, a de- partment of Methodist Hospital. "Our highly experienced and devoted team of physician specialists, nurses and other care coordina- tors takes an individualized approach to each patient. We manage their health care needs from diagnosis of liver disease through evaluation for transplant, transplant surgery, recovery and a return to normal activities. We continue to care for these patients and monitor their progress in our outpatient clinic setting." The Liver Transplant Program at MSTH began in 2001 and has performed 290 trans- plants since. Liver transplant procedures can be especially complex because many patients are at life-threatening stages of liver disease and prone to complications. ■