One molecule to rule them all, one molecule to find them. One molecule to bring them all, and in the liver bind them. Hepcidin is the key to understanding iron metabolism and we examine how iron gets into, around and out of the body. We promise not to be too Celebrimbor-ing as you join Nick, Cale and Bashar  for this discussion of the basic science of iron handling in preparation for our journey into the building blocks of blood. Welcome to Lord of the Haematinics. 

TIMESTAMPS

0:56 - The next arc of the Bloody Minded Cinematic Universe
3:23 - Series overview
6:21 - Basic iron metabolism
7:54 - The three main player groups in iron metabolism
8:44 - Iron binding molecules: Heme
13:22 - Non-heme iron
14:05 - Iron binding molecules: Ferritin
17:12 - Iron binding molecules: Transferrin
20:44 - Iron transporters: DMT1
25:02 - Iron transporters: ferroportin
28:21 - Iron transporters: Hephaestin
29:28 - Iron flux
33:24 - Hepcidin: Master Regulator and The One Ring
39:04 - Non-hepcidin regulation of Ferroportin and IREs
41:32 - Take home messages

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

Has your ward team been hit with HITT? Is Jane the only Fonda you know? Is BAD an 80s hit and not a trio of anti-coagulation infusions (Bivalirudin, Argatroban and Danaparoid). Is Alison showing her age? Never fear; join Alison, Bashar, Nick and Cale as they aim to de-mystify less commonly used anticoagulation that may come up on the wards. 

TIMESTAMPS

0:56 - It's Fancypants Wednesday!
2:15 - Episode overview
4:37 - Fondaparinux
9:07 - When to use fonda
12:35 - Argatroban
17:25 - When to use argatroban
18:02 - Bivalirudin
19:11 - Mandatory historical diversion
22:50 - Back to bivali business
25:59 - Danaparoid
30:21 - When to use danaparoid
32:45 - Quick summary
34:13 - Dalteparin
38:02 - A bit of nonsense chitchat

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

Join us in our third straight week of incredibly nice and incredibly talented haematology gurus as Professor John Moore joins us as an expert guest to discuss stem cell transplant in the myeloid disease setting. 

TIMESTAMPS

 1:00 – HYTTIOAOA
 1:47 – Introducing Professor John Moore
 8:06 – Advice to RMOs on the Allo Term
 11:02 – The history of allogeneic transplantation
 18:26 – Modern morbidity/mortality from alloSCT for AML
 23:05 – Use of transplant scoring systems
 27:29 – The role of MRD in transplant decisions
 30:04 – MAC vs. RIC – Choice of Conditioning
 38:15 – The role of PTCy
 40:17 – Second allogeneic transplants
 42:02 – DLI
 43:08 – Biallelic TP53 – no good options
 45:29 – Free rein in the trials space
 49:11 – AlloSCT/CAR-T for autoimmune disease
 55:05 – Take Home Messages 

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

This week we continue the pattern of guests who are really really ridiculously good at haematology and also really really ridiculously nice people as well. We are very excited to be joined by Dr Michael Krigstein who many of you would know as the a molecular haematology guru who has gotten countless patients through their diagnoses and countless haematology trainees through their exams.

Timestamps:

01:30 - Introducing Dr Michael Krigstein
04:23 - Getting into Lab Haem
08:30 - The Mechanics of NGS
16:57 - Learning to report - RCPA Modules
19:58 - After the NGS - Curation
24:14 - NGS - Not a panacea
28:45 - Why NGS is bad at ITDs
32:42 - Panel Design
36:37 - RNA vs DNA Panels
39:16 - The future of NGS in haematology
46:56 - A standout case
53:36 - Wrapup

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

What happens when you take someone who is really really ridiculously good at haematology and also a really really ridiculously nice person as well? You get Dr Jad Othman, consultant Haematologist and Haematopathologist at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney who will be joining us today to discuss the use of measurable residual disease in acute myeloid leukaemia.

Dr Othman is well suited to this topic, having written his doctoral thesis on molecular disease assessment in AML, sitting on the European LeukaemiaNet (ELN)-DAVID MRD Working Group as well as numerous ALLG AML and MDS working groups. We're delighted to have him field the Bloody Minded Crew's questions today. 

Timestamps

01:00 - The boys making outdated millenial references
02:50 - Getting to know Dr Jad Othman
09:50 - The concept of MRD
11:55 - Lab techniques for MRD
17:59 - Why doesn't everyone have an MRD marker?
20:51 - What makes a good MRD assay?
24:14 - Patients without a molecular MRD marker
26:21 - Clinical case
30:30 - What we do with MRD results
31:47 - The NPM1/FLT3 PB/BM situation
35:31 - Why MRD is actually helpful
39:40 - Why single agent treatment in AML is challenging
44:33 - The 2025 ELN DAVID update
48:44 - Does doing MRD improve OS?
52:21 - The INTERCEPT study
55:41 - Wrap up and summary

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

Here’s a question, what do CD123, CD4 and CD56 have in common? Other than pleasing The Count on Sesame Street. Sorry, another question perhaps - what happens if you cross a plasma cell and a dendritic cell? The answers to these questions can be found on a most enigmatic myeloid cell - the plasmacytoid dendritic cell. And what happens when these rare beasts become neoplastic - why BPDCN of course. Embark on a journey into this weird and not so wonderful (but highly examinable) neoplasm with the Bloody Minded Crew 

TIMESTAMPS

 0:57 – A glimpse into Cale's psyche
 2:39 – Intro to BPDCN
 6:56 – What IS a plasmacytoid dendritic cell?
 10:24 – Pathological PDCs in BPDCN
 11:42 – Clinical presentation – lots of rash talk
 15:23 – Morphology in BPDCN
 17:48 – Immunophenotype
 21:16 – Karyotypic and molecular features
 22:44 – Treatment of BPDCN
 24:00 – A bit on prognostic markers
 25:03 – Transplant
 25:28 – Tagraxofusp
 29:15 – Other treatment options
 31:33 – Take home messages 

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

“It’s pronounced nuc-ul-ophosmin” “Nucleophosmin”. “Noo-clee-o-phosmin”. FLT3-ITD got you In The Dumps? Have a Total Knowledge Deficit about TKD mutations? Struggling with the A-B-Cs of NPM1 mutations? Want to know how a cat sarcoma is somehow related to AML? Join the Bloody Minded Crew as they flit about the laboratory looking at the structure of FLT3 and NPM1, what these proteins usually do and how we test for mutations in the advanced myeloid episode.

== Edit 6/5/26 = We've been made aware that strictly speaking the current MANE approved transcript for NPM1.1 has only 11 exons and therefore the mutations are best to be considered in Exon 11 as opposed to exon 12 - in contrast to what we said. ==

Timestamps

0:52 - Bloody Minded issues a formal apology
2:40 - Introducing molecular chaperones
5:05 - What even NPM1?
9:30 - Functions of NPM1
10:55 - Molecular biology of NPM1 in disease
15:42 - Why the subtypes are important
19:53 - NPM1 prognosis
21:35 - MRD testing in NPM1
25:52 - NPM1 summary
27:13 - Intro to FLT3
28:30 - Mandatory FLT3 history
36:28 - FLT3 pathogenesis
37:37 - FLT3 structure, ITD vs TKD
41:16 - The juxtamembrane domain
42:53 - Prognostic features in FLT3
44:17 - TKD mutations
46:26 - FLT3 in the lab
50:30 - Take home messages

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi, you dysplastic yeah yeah you dysplastic. Apologies to all the ring sideroblasts out there, but this week the Bloody Minded crew is doing a Mean Girls and judging cells by their morphology. For now we’re deciding to ignore those that would argue that it’s what’s on the inside that counts (i.e. judging by NGS… that’ll come later).

TIMESTAMPS

2:28 - For some reason, an audio podcast on visual dysplasia 
5:05 - Normal erythroid morphology 
7:17 - Dysplastic erythroid morphology 
17:32 - Normal granulocyte morphology 
20:00 - Dysplastic granulocyte morphology 
28:33 - Monocyte morphology - dysplastic at baseline 
30:33 - Normal megakaryocyte morphology 
32:24 - Dysplastic megakaryocyte morphology 
35:02 - Take Home Messages

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

What do arsenic, acne tablets and Jodi Picoult have in common? Why, it must be a deep dive with Nick, Bashar and Cale on acute promyelocytic leukaemia. From buzzwords to brain bleeds, the sweetest of translocations to the cruellest of coagulopathies... The yield is almost as high as the survival rates.

TIMESTAMPS

00:57 - Bloody Minded Poetry Jam & Jodi Picoult
06:25 - APML Starts Here
08:02 - APML - Where does it fit in AML?
10:02 - Morphology & Flow
12:12 - PML::RARA - t(15;17) and rare variants
16:58 - Lab Summary
17:50 - Clinical Presentation
21:02 - APML Coagulopathy
26:46 - Treatment and Risk Stratification
33:53 - High Risk Aside
36:58 - Differentiation Syndrome

41:04 - Treatment SEs
44:18 - Microgranular Variant
47:00 - Summary and Takehomes

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au

After our initial intro to AML back in ep 79, we are back to dig deeper into AML this week, from pathophysiology through to treatment overview. The boys are joined by final year registrar Dr Georgina Calov who is here to cut through our nonsense and deliver some actual high yield content. And thank goodness for that, otherwise it'd be an hour of us making bad April Fool's day jokes.

Timestamps

2:09 - Introducing Dr Georgina Calov
3:34 - AML Refresher
7:12 - AML defined by recurrent genetic abnormalities
15:39 - AML defined by differentiation (aka whats with the M numbers)
18:14 - MN-pCT
19:03 - Prognostication - ELN Classification
21:58 - Diagnosing AML - Clinical
24:16 - Diagnosing AML - Lab
31:39 - New AML Workup
35:50 - Intro to Treatment - Induction in "Fit" patients
41:40 - Treatment - Consolidation & MRD
45:15 - Treatment - "Unfit"
48:02 - Treatment - Supportive
50:16 - Treatment - Relapse/Refractory
55:19 - Summary

Support the show

Check out show notes, additional references and (sometimes) extra content at www.bloodyminded.com.au