Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship

News Highlights

Research led by UAB’s Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship and director Smita Bhatia, M.D., MPH finds that patients who received autologous blood or marrow transplantation (using their own cells) over the past three decades lived on average seven years fewer than peers. But newer strategies have narrowed the mortality gap, they report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In-person UAB commencement set for Bartow Arena on April 29, 30

More than 2,600 students will graduate from UAB this spring. Approximately 1,600 students will walk in one of the university’s three ceremonies.
Study provides ‘critical information’ for treating childhood cancer patients with COVID

The largest registry of U.S. children with cancer who were diagnosed with COVID-19 found an increased risk of having severe infection and having their cancer therapy modified because of COVID, underscoring the urgency of vaccinations for these children, the authors say.
Study first to demonstrate that HPV vaccines are safe and generate protective antibody levels in young cancer survivors

Young cancer survivors are at higher risk of developing subsequent HPV-related cancers than the general population, but less likely to receive the HPV vaccine. Findings from the first clinical trial of its kind support making HPV vaccination a routine part of oncologic care for all young cancer survivors, researchers say.
Life expectancy, outcomes improving after BMT but still behind general population, study finds

Blood and marrow transplantation strategies have changed significantly over the past four decades; but recipients still experience excess mortality that translates into 8.7 years of life lost, according to researchers in UAB’s Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship.