Blood Cancer Awareness Month 2025
Talking Transfusion Podcast
Tune into the third episode of the Talking Transfusion Podcast!
Introduction
Welcome to the quarterly Transfusion Evidence Round-Up.
This is a collaboration between the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) and the Transfusion Evidence Library (TEL). We aim to highlight high quality evidence randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews about an internationally relevant subject in the field of Transfusion Medicine. All references are drawn from the Transfusion Evidence Library and, where relevant, Stem Cell Evidence.
This Transfusion Evidence Round-Up is sent to ISBT members and TEL subscribers, so if you are a subscriber to both mailing lists and receive it twice please bear with us until we can resolve this.
The Transfusion Evidence Library is produced by the Systematic Review Initiative (SRI) and funded by the four UK blood services. It is available free at the point of access providing a comprehensive and up-to-date database of high quality evidence in Transfusion Medicine.
Top 10 articles
The following 10 articles were selected from the Transfusion Evidence Library by 3 reviewers: Amira Badawy, Vijay Kumawat and Fahad Saeed Alshehri .
Top article
Bone marrow versus peripheral blood allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for haematological malignancies in adults.
Selected articles
Intravenous iron supplementation for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Buchrits, S., et al. (2022). Journal of Clinical Medicine. [Link opens in Transfusion Evidence Library].
Effect of single-unit transfusion in patients treated for haematological disease including acute leukemia: a multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial. Chantepie, S.P., et al. (2023). Leukemia Research. [Link opens in Transfusion Evidence Library].
The efficacy and safety of tandem transplant versus single stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Chen, Y.H., et al. (2024). Diagnostics. [Link opens in Stem Cell Evidence].
Long-term transfusion independence with luspatercept versus epoetin alfa in erythropoiesis-stimulating agent-naive, lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes in the COMMANDS trial. Garcia-Manero, G., et al. (2025). Advances in Therapy. [Link opens in Transfusion Evidence Library].
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia: an overview of systematic reviews. He, P., et al. (2022). International Journal of Clinical Practice. [Link opens in Stem Cell Evidence].
Eltrombopag for low-risk myelodysplastic syndromes with thrombocytopenia: interim results of a phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial (EQOL-MDS). Oliva, E.N., et al. (2023). Journal of Clinical Oncology. [Link opens in Transfusion Evidence Library].
Restrictive versus liberal red blood cell transfusion strategies for people with haematological malignancies treated with intensive chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or both, with or without haematopoietic stem cell support. Radford, M., et al. (2024). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. [Link opens in Transfusion Evidence Library].
Red cell transfusion in outpatients with myelodysplastic syndromes: a feasibility and exploratory randomised trial. Stanworth, S.J., et al. (2020). British Journal of Haematology. [Link opens in Transfusion Evidence Library].
Tranexamic acid versus placebo to prevent bleeding in patients with haematological malignancies and severe thrombocytopenia (TREATT): a randomised, double-blind, parallel, phase 3 superiority trial. TREATT Trial Investigators (2025). The Lancet Haematology. [Link opens in Transfusion Evidence Library].
Editorial Board
Amira Badawy
Dr Amira Badawy is a Lecturer of Clinical Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine, Menofia University, Egypt, with a main focus in transfusion medicine and hematopathology. Her research focuses on the optimization of platelet storage, transfusion safety, therapeutic apheresis, and advancing transfusion practices in low-resource settings. She recently presented her PhD work on cold-stored platelets with additive solutions at the ISBT Congress in Milan and was awarded the Harold Gunson Fellowship.
Fahad Saeed Alshehri
Consultant Clinical Scientist - Hematologist, King Faisal Medical City for Southern Region- Aseer Health Cluster, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Systematic Research Initiative
The Systematic Review Initiative (SRI) is a clinical research group established in 2001 by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and funded by the UK Blood Services. The primary objective of the SRI is to “develop the evidence base for the practice of transfusion medicine”, by undertaking systematic reviews and other evidence-based medicine research projects in the transfusion field. @sritransfusion
- Twitter:
- @sritransfusion
Transfusion Evidence Library
- Twitter:
- @transfusionlib
Stem Cell Evidence
Stem Cell Evidence is a comprehensive collection of high quality research relevant to haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, updated monthly. The most important articles in the field are highlighted in the Stem Cell Evidence Alert which is a newsletter emailed to subscribers. Stem Cell Evidence aims to be a key resource worldwide for medical practitioners, clinical researchers and policy makers. It is also intended to be of value to those planning new clinical trials in the field. It is produced by the Systematic Review Initiative and funded by the UK Blood Services and Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.
- Twitter:
- @evidencestemc
