2007 Late-Breaking Call For Abstracts

The 2007 ASH™ Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, December 8 – Tuesday, December 11 in Atlanta, Georgia. The ASH Program Committee recognizes that the results of some exciting research may not be available by the general abstract submission deadline. This year, ASH offers a new late-breaking abstract deadline for abstracts that highlight novel and substantive studies of high impact. All abstract submissions must be made electronically through the ASH online abstract submission program, which will be available October 1. Late-breaking abstracts can be submitted from October 1-9.

Eligibility

• ASH offers this new late-breaking abstract deadline of October 9, 2007 for abstracts that highlight novel and substantive studies of high impact.
• The late-breaking abstract submission program will be available October 1-9.
• The selection process will be competitive; no more than six abstracts will be selected for oral presentation in a late-breaking abstracts simultaneous session on Tuesday morning of the ASH annual meeting.
• Late-breaking abstracts will not be eligible for oral presentation in the usual simultaneous sessions, nor will they be eligible for poster presentation during the annual meeting.
• Late-breaking abstracts will not be chosen from among the abstracts submitted by the general submission deadline, but all other ASH policies stated in the general submission Call for Abstracts still apply.
• Only the accepted late-breaking abstracts will be published online, and copies will be distributed on site at the meeting.
• Examples of suitable late-breaking abstracts might include the results of a practice-changing prospective clinical trial or the discovery of a mechanism underlying or characterizing a disease process (such as the JAK2 mutation in myeloproliferative disorders), which were not fully available by the general abstract submission deadline.
• The late-breaking abstract deadline is not intended to be merely an extension of the general submission deadline and will focus on capturing abstracts with ground-breaking and novel data that otherwise could not be presented at the annual meeting.
• ASH members who have paid their current membership dues are eligible to submit an abstract.
• If none of the abstract authors is a member of ASH, the abstract must be sponsored by a current ASH member or it will not be reviewed. ASH members are urged to use their judgment in restricting sponsorship to a reasonable number of abstracts, keeping in mind that they are endorsing the authenticity and quality of each abstract that they sponsor.
• Research and/or studies must fit into one of the ASH 2007 Abstract Review Categories.
• Data published, either online or in print, by October 9 or to be presented at the ASH Friday Satellite Symposia will generally not be eligible for consideration. Authors must request special consideration if the abstract is a minor extension (10 percent) of published work or if the author has reason to believe that the data will be published, either online or in print, or presented at a major meeting prior to the ASH annual meeting.

Responsibilities of the Presenting Author

• The first author listed for each abstract serves as the presenting author and as the primary contact for all correspondence regarding the abstract, unless otherwise specified under the "Contact Information" section of the online abstract submission program.
• The presenting author must be one of the co-authors listed on the submitted abstract.
• As the main point of contact for information regarding the submission, the presenting author is responsible for the following:
  • Ensuring that all authors have read the abstract and agreed to be co-authors. Failure to get approval from all authors will result in rejection of the abstract.
  • Notifying all co-authors of any additions, deletions, and changes to the program, as may be communicated by ASH.
  • Obtaining all the disclosure information from co-authors.
  • Forwarding all correspondence to all co-authors, including the ASH policies and guidelines, and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Commercial Support for Continuing Medical Education (CME).

Authors’ Consent and Waiver of Claims

• Each abstract author agrees and certifies that he or she:
  • Has read all rules and agrees to be bound by them,
  • Is responsible for submission of the abstract in accordance with the rules, and
  • Waives any and all claims against ASH and any reviewer arising out of or relating to the abstract submission and review process, including but not limited to peer review and grading of abstracts.

General Guidelines

• The abstract must address scientific questions, detail clinical observations, or contain primary scientific data.
• Abstracts submitted to ASH are considered embargoed from the time of submission. This means that the data in the abstract cannot be submitted to other meetings and/or publishers once submitted for the ASH annual meeting.
• All research and studies that involve human and animal subjects reported in submitted abstracts must comply with the guiding principles for experimental procedures found in the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association.
• Data from the long-term follow-up of previously presented clinical trials may be submitted only if significant new information can be shown. In this case, please ask for special consideration.
• Interim analysis of a prospective randomized clinical trial will be considered only if it is performed as planned in the original protocol and is statistically valid. If your abstract involves interim analysis, explain the details of your study in the textbox provided under the submission information section (Question #2) of the online abstract submission program.
• Failure of authors to request special consideration for an abstract including content that has been published or presented at a major meeting prior to the annual meeting will result in exclusion from the program.
• No revisions can be made after the abstract submission deadline.
• After the October 9 submission deadline, abstracts generally may not be withdrawn once submitted.
• Presentation at the annual meeting must be the same as described in the abstract. In particular, the abstract title, authorship, and scientific content of the presentation at the annual meeting must match that of the submitted abstract.

How to Request Special Consideration

• Special consideration may be requested by checking the appropriate box and explaining the special circumstances in the textbox provided under the "Submission Information" section (Question #4) in the online abstract submission program.
• If special consideration is requested for presentation of published data, ASH reserves the right to exclude the abstract from the program.

Abstract Selection Process

• After the submission deadline, all completed abstracts in the abstract submission program will be sent to the ASH Secretary, Scientific Program Co-Chairs, and selected Coordinating Reviewers for review and final selection.
• Abstracts will be evaluated solely on the data submitted.
• Any abstract left "incomplete" will not be reviewed.
• Abstracts will be peer-reviewed according to the subject categories. Authors must indicate the review category (one only) under the "Submission Information" section (Question #3) in the online abstract submission program. There, you will find the list of this year’s abstract review categories, which provides detailed descriptions of each category, to assist you in selecting the correct abstract classification. If you are unsure of which category to place your abstract, choose the category that is the closest fit. During the review process, your abstract may be switched by the ASH Secretary, Scientific Program Co-Chairs, and selected Coordinating Reviewers to a more suitable category.
• The same study should not be submitted as multiple abstracts. Abstracts that appear as more than one version of a single study will be rejected.
• Of all abstracts submitted for consideration, no more than six will be selected for oral presentation in a late-breaking abstracts simultaneous session on Tuesday morning of the ASH annual meeting. Each formal oral presentation is typically followed by a brief discussion.
• Late-breaking abstracts will not be eligible for oral presentation in the usual simultaneous sessions, nor will they be eligible for poster presentation during the annual meeting.

Acceptance/Rejection Notification

• Notification regarding acceptance or rejection of abstracts will be sent to the presenting author in late October by e-mail, or by fax if no e-mail address is provided; consequently, an accurate e-mail address is critical. If you have not received an e-mail notification by November 1, 2007, contact Marathon Multimedia.
• The decision of the ASH Secretary, Scientific Program Co-Chairs, and selected Coordinating Reviewers regarding acceptance and presentation of abstracts is final.

Abstract Withdrawal

• If the contact/presenting author decides to withdraw the late-breaking abstract for any reason, a written request must be submitted by the submission deadline, October 9, 2007, to Marathon Multimedia. Any abstract withdrawal requests received after the deadline will not be accepted.
• ASH reserves the right to withdraw abstracts that are in violation of the Society’s policies and guidelines, such as those that have been previously published or presented, have been deemed scientifically unsound, or have been found to include inaccurate data, etc.

Publication of the Accepted Late-Breaking Abstracts

• Late-breaking abstracts submitted for the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology will be published online and in the ASH On-Site Program Book.
• The accepted late-breaking abstracts will be published online with general submission abstracts as part of the Abstracts2View™ online program available through the ASH Web site.
• The On-Site Program Book, which contains annual meeting program information, will be available to all annual meeting registrants on site at the ASH annual meeting.
• Late-breaking abstract submissions that are not accepted for presentation will not be published.

Publication in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology
(The Program and Abstracts Book)

All abstracts submitted for the 2007 ASH Annual Meeting are published in a special issue of Blood, ASH's official journal, whether accepted for presentation at the meeting or not (unless otherwise requested, as explained below).

• This special issue of Blood, which contains the annual meeting program, is automatically mailed to all ASH members in good standing, non-member Blood subscribers, and non-members who pre-register for the ASH annual meeting.
• If an author does not want the abstract published if not accepted for presentation, he/she must check the appropriate box under the "Submission Information" section (Question #5) in the online abstract submission program.
• ASH reserves the right not to publish abstracts that do not fit into any of the review categories, abstracts that inappropriately promote commercial interests, abstracts that are judged unethical, poorly written, or scientifically unsound, or abstracts considered inappropriate for publication for other reasons as determined by the Program Committee.

Abstract Submission Policies

Conflict of Interest Policy

• ASH is committed to ensuring the integrity of its scientific, educational, and research programs. The ASH Conflict-of-Interest Policy requires disclosure of any financial or other interest that might be construed as resulting in an actual, potential, or apparent conflict.
• ASH abides by rules formulated by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), which requires that you disclose any relevant financial relationships you or your spouse/partner have had within the past 12 months. For this purpose, "relevant financial relationships" are those from which you have received or may receive financial benefit and which are related to the CME content.
• By completing this section of the online abstract submission program, you agree that you have read the ASH Conflict-of-Interest Policy, and you understand and support its intent.
• As a continuing medical education (CME) provider accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), ASH must ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all presentations at the ASH annual meeting.
• The first author is responsible for obtaining disclosure information from all co-authors.
• All authors and co-authors are required to provide any relevant information concerning personal or professional circumstances and relationships that might reasonably be expected to affect the author’s view on the presentation.
• This includes relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or other corporations whose products or services are related to the subject matter of the presentation topic. If no relevant relationships exist, this must be disclosed as well.
• This policy is not intended to prevent a presentation. It is merely intended to openly identify potential conflicts so audience members may form their own judgments about the presentation with a full disclosure of the facts.
• Appropriate disclosure will be stated online and in the On-Site Program Book. Abstracts will not be considered for the program without completion of disclosure information for all of the authors.

When to Disclose
Please disclose any relationships or circumstances that might affect or appear to affect the research presented. These relationships include you or any individual with whom you directly share income.

What to Disclose
You must disclose the relationship and state the name of the company for each of the following areas in which you maintain a relationship. Exact dollar amounts are not necessary. You will have the option to note that there is no information to disclose or to provide disclosure information pertinent to the abstract. Disclosed information pertinent to the abstract may include the following areas:

• Employment
• Consultancy
• Ownership interests (including stock options) in a start-up company, the stock of which is not publicly traded
• Ownership interest (including stock options, but excluding indirect investments through mutual funds and the like) in a publicly traded company
• Research funding
• Honoraria directly received from an entity
• Patents and royalties
• Paid expert testimony
• Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors, Speakers Bureau, or its advisory committees
• Any other financial relationship

You will be required to note whether your presentation will include discussion of off-label use of products. If so, you must provide a brief explanation.

If you are providing recommendations involving clinical medicine, they will be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indication and contraindications in the care of patients. All scientific research referred to in support of a patient-care recommendation will conform to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

The content of the information with which you are involved will promote quality in health care or advancements in science, and will not promote a specific proprietary business interest or a commercial interest. Content for this publication will be well-balanced and unbiased.

If you have been trained or utilized by a commercial entity or its agents as a speaker (e.g., speakers’ bureau) for any commercial interest, the promotional aspects of that presentation will not be included in any way with the activity.

Please see the annual meeting speaker preparation and conflict of interest page for more information.

Embargo Policy

• Abstracts submitted to ASH are considered embargoed from the time of submission.
• For the research and study to be eligible for presentation at the 2007 ASH Annual Meeting, information contained in the abstract, as well as additional data and information to be presented about the research and/or study at the annual meeting, may not be made public before the abstract has been published/presented at the annual meeting in compliance with the ASH embargo policy.
• Prior to the embargo being lifted, the first author, co-authors, and sponsor of the abstract must abide by the following policies:
  • Not to publish the information or provide it to others who may publish it.
  • Not to release the research/study to news media.
  • Not to use the information for trading in the securities of any issuer, or provide it to others who may use it for securities trading purposes.
• If the policy is violated, the abstract may be automatically withdrawn from presentation at the 2007 ASH Annual Meeting and from publication.

How to Submit an Abstract

• All late-breaking abstracts must be submitted by October 9, 2007, at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time.
• There will be a $60 non-refundable handling fee for submitting an abstract. Payment must be made by credit card; Visa, MasterCard, and American Express will be accepted. Purchase orders and checks will not be accepted. The submission fee does not include registration for the annual meeting; therefore, all authors planning to attend the annual meeting must register for the meeting.
• Abstracts must be submitted online through the official online abstract submission program, which will be available October 1. E-mails and word processing files submitted outside of the program will not be accepted.
• Electronic submission works optimally with Netscape Navigator or Communicator 6.2 or higher, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or higher. The online abstract submission program will provide links so that you can download this free software; and step-by-step instructions will guide you through the program.
• Please check the appropriate box under the "Submission Information" section (Question #5) of the online abstract submission program if this marks your first time that you are submitting an abstract for the American Society of Hematology annual meeting.
• You can save a draft of your abstract and return to edit and update it from any location with Internet access. Your work will automatically be saved until you have submitted the abstract. However, you must remain logged on to the Internet while entering and editing your abstract.
• Abstracts cannot be submitted and will not be reviewed without proper payment and completion of the "Submission Information" and "Disclosure" sections of the online abstract submission program.
• Any technical questions regarding the submission process should be directed to Marathon Multimedia by e-mailing Technical Support or calling 507-333-1000.

Online Submission Notes

• When using the online submission program, click the buttons on the left side of the screen and complete each section. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions within each section.
• Save your work by clicking "Save." This does not submit your abstract for review. Be sure to save your work before logging out of the program.
• You can log off at anytime without submitting your abstract and return to continue your work at another time. As long as you do not submit the abstract, it can be edited and revised online as many times as needed. If you give your username and password to another person, they will have access to edit all abstracts you have not submitted for review.
• Verify that your abstract is correct by clicking "Preview Abstract."
• Click on "Submit Abstract" ONLY when you are sure that your abstract is complete and in final form.
• Print out and proofread the abstract preview to verify that it is correct before completing the submission process.
• Once you complete the submission process, an additional $60.00 fee will be required to make any changes.

Preparing an Abstract

Contact Information

• Your name, degree, institution, address, phone number, and e-mail address must be provided. As the contact author, you will receive all future correspondence from ASH.
• The contact author should be the first author (presenter) of the abstract, unless otherwise specified in the "Contact Information" section of the online abstract submission program.
• If none of the abstract authors is an ASH member, the program will automatically print "(Sponsored by ____)" after the name of the last author followed by the name of the ASH member who is sponsoring the abstract.

Co-Authors
Names of co-authors and institutions must be provided. The program will automatically place an asterisk (*) after the name of each non-member author.

Copyright Policy
All authors must assign copyright of the abstract to ASH, unless the author is a U.S. Federal employee.

Abstract Title

• The abstract title should be brief, clearly indicating the nature of the abstract.
• The abstract title must be in title case. Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (i.e., "as", "because", "although"). Except for the first and last word of the title, lowercase all articles, coordinate conjunctions (i.e., "and", "or", "nor"), and prepositions, regardless of length. Also, lowercase "to" in an infinitive.
• Additionally, keep letters lowercase if the lowercase letters have a specific meaning, such as pH or NaCl.
• Do not put a period at the end of the title.

Use of Product Name

• Non-proprietary (generic/scientific) names should be used in your abstract(s).
• If necessary, you may include a proprietary name in parentheses directly after the generic name after its first mention in the body of the abstract. ASH reserves the right to replace proprietary names with generic names to adhere to this policy.

Abbreviations

• Use standard abbreviations. Place abbreviations in parentheses immediately after the first mention of a term or phrase; the abbreviation can then be used throughout the abstract.
• Do not abbreviate compounds in the title of the abstract.

Abstract Body, Tables, and Figures

• Abstracts accepted for oral presentation at the 49th ASH Annual Meeting are published online and in the On-Site Program Book. Abstracts will be typeset from the material submitted by the author. Abstracts will be reproduced online and in the On-Site Program Book as typed in the abstract submission program. Proofread your abstract carefully.
• The entire abstract, including title, author(s), location, text, and table/graphic must not exceed 3,872 characters (including spaces), and the program will not allow you to submit your abstract unless it fits in the required space. Figures typically take up 320 characters or 8.25 percent of space.
• The entire abstract, including title, author(s), location, text, and table/graphic must not exceed 3,872 characters and the program will not allow you to submit your abstract unless it fits in the required space.
• Do not use bold type or underline formatting. Italic type is acceptable.
• The text must be a single paragraph and you do not need to indent the first line.
• Special Greek and mathematical symbols are available in a character map within the program. Please contact Marathon Multimedia if a symbol is not provided.
• Use numerals to indicate numbers, except when beginning sentences.
• The first letter of the name of a proprietary drug should be capitalized; generic names are preferred and should be written without capitals.
• Simple tables and graphs may be included. To ensure high print quality of any figure(s), an online software program is being used to verify the print quality of your figures. In order to ensure that your figure is of highest quality, we ask that you submit it with no less than 300 dpi. The program will confirm the dpi of the figure provided. If less than 300 dpi, please provide the highest quality image available. The online abstract submission program provides step-by-step instructions on inserting tables and figures.
• Any references should be noted as citations within the text and not as footnotes at the end.

Selection of Abstract Review Category

• Under the "Submission Information" section (Question #3) of the online abstract submission program, please refer to the list of this year’s abstract review categories, which provides detailed descriptions of each category, to assist you in selecting the correct abstract classification.
• Be sure to select from the program’s drop-down menu the review category that best describes your abstract.
• The abstract will be reviewed for category assignment and may be reassigned if necessary.

Electronic Signature

Completion of all required disclosure information in the online abstract submission program serves as an electronic agreement and is accepted in lieu of a faxed signature. It certifies the ASH abstract submitter's understanding of the rules for participation contained in the online abstract submission program, including:

1. All authors approve submitting this work for presentation;
2. The author(s) transfer(s) all copyright ownership of the named abstract to the American Society of Hematology;
3. All authors have read the ASH Abstract Conflict-of-Interest Policy and have acted in accordance with that policy;
4. The author(s) agree(s) to materially confine the presentations to information in the abstract if accepted for presentation. If an author has more than one abstract accepted, each presentation will be materially confined to the information in the abstract selected for the specific session;
5. The presenting author will be available to present the abstract if selected for the program. The author(s) will immediately notify ASH if the presenting author must be changed; and
6. The data in the abstract are not expected to be published, either online or in print, by October 9, nor will they be materially presented at another major meeting or at Friday Satellite Symposia prior to the ASH annual meeting.

Sample Abstract

A sample abstract is provided for your reference below.

Resident CD8 T Cells in Bone Marrow Transplants Mediate GVL Activity Without GVHD; Blood CD8 T Cells Mediate Severe GVHD.
Defu Zeng*,¹ Fengshuo Lan*,¹ Philip Huie*,² John Higgins*,² Samuel Strober*.¹ (Intr. by Michael Richard Verneris) 1Medicine/Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; 2Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.

Graft versus leukemia (GVL) mediated by the donor T cells is one of the most beneficial effect of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). However, GVL is associated with graft versus host disease (GVHD), a major obstacle of allogeneic BMT. In the current study, CD8 T cells from peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) of C57BL/6 mice were compared with regard to surface phenotype, cytokine secretion profile and function after BMT. Less than 1% of PB but about 20% of BM CD8 T cells were NK1.1+. The PB CD8 T cells produced large amounts of IL-2 and IFN-γ but little IL-4. In contrast, the BM CD8 T cells produced large amounts of IFN-γ and IL-4, but small amounts of IL-2. Graded numbers (6-500x10³) of sorted PB and BM CD8 T cells from C57BL/6 (H-2^b) mice were injected with 1.5x10⁶ T cell depleted (TCD) donor marrow cells into lethally irradiated MHC-mismatched BALB/c (H-2^d) recipients to test their capacity in GVHD. The PB CD8 T cells were at least 5 times more potent than either BM CD4 or CD8 T cells in GVHD, since 100x10³ PB CD8 T cells induced typical signs of GVHD, but 500x10³ of BM CD4 or CD8 T cells did not induce any signs of GVHD. Furthermore, the BM CD8 T cells were tested for facilitation of engraftment and GVL. Although 75x10³ TCD BM alone only resulted in 10% of the recipients surviving for more than 100 days, addition of 25-500x10³ BM CD8 T cells but not the BM CD4 T cells resulted in 70% of the recipients surviving for more than 100 days. While all the recipients given Rag-2^-/- BM and BCL1 cells died of tumor by day 40, addition of 500x10³ BM CD8 T cells but not the BM CD4 T cells allowed all the recipients to survive for more than 100 days without detectable BCL1 cells. 500x10³ BM CD8 T cells from (C57BL/6xBALB/c) F1 did not facilitate engraftment or mediate GVL. These results indicate that PB and BM CD8 T cells are markedly different by NK1.1 marker, cytokine secretion profile and GVHD capacity. The alloreactive BM but not PB CD8 T cells exert GVL and facilitation of engraftment without GVHD.

Contact Information

Send related correspondence and questions regarding abstract submissions or notifications to:
American Society of Hematology Abstract Processing
c/o Marathon Multimedia
1201 West Division Street
Faribault, MN 55021
United States
Phone: 507-333-1000
Fax: 507-334-0126
support@marathonmultimedia.com

Registration and Housing

Annual Meeting Registration and Housing

• Please note that submitting an abstract does not register you for the ASH annual meeting.
• To register, you must complete and return an Attendee Registration Form or register online through the ASH Web site.
• You must register for the annual meeting before making your hotel reservations.
• The Preliminary Program brochure was mailed to ASH members in July.
• Non-members will be able to find all relevant annual meeting information on the ASH Web site and can access the online registration and hotel reservation program beginning August 7.