The ASPHO Meeting (25 Years of Excellence)

Abstract

This year's American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology annual meeting is a very special one. The Society will gather in beautiful New Orleans not only to celebrate the science and knowledge that our members will disseminate at the meeting but also to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its formation. Many things have changed since the first meeting. Several discoveries in hematology and oncology have changed the scientific world in the last 25 years and we can cure or improve many more diseases now. During 25 years, by delivering state of the art information and the most up to date scientific developments, the Society has helped to nurture academicians and clinicians that have changed the lives of many children. Our main goal is to continue and perfect this mission. In this issue of Pediatric Blood & Cancer you will find not only the abstracts for the annual meeting but also two superb reviews from the 2011 annual meeting in Baltimore. In the first one entitled “Transfusion Medicine Problems And Solutions For The General Pediatric Hematologist Oncologist” Drs. Gupta, McBride, Ford, and Luban discuss platelet refractoriness, transfusion issues in bone marrow transplantation and the risk of alloimmunization in thalassemia and sickle cell disease. In the second manuscript Drs. Zage, Louis, and Cohn reviewed novel aspects of neuroblastoma treatment. Both manuscripts will give readers a great snapshot of the quality of material presented at the meeting. As we did last year, we invite readers to continue submitting manuscripts to Pediatric Blood & Cancer, a journal that plays an essential part in the success of our society.