Pip and Rich preview their second Don't Just Read the Abstract newsletter. This week, the newsletter focuses on the work that the British Society for Haematology have being doing on workforce planning and liaison haematology in particular.

If you would like to read Dr Sue Pavord's BSH message you can find it here.

The paper we mention: Ransome et al. Defining ‘liaison haematology’ in the UK: a modified Delphi study. BMJ Open. 2025.

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When Dr Peter Douglas listened to our episode on the PEERLESS trial (S1, Ep12), he began to develop a funny sensation in his chest.

Emailing us he wrote:

"Your commentary on this paper lead me to develop the signs and symptoms of submassive PE. I am an interventional radiologist who has spent the last 3-4 years setting up a PERT and catheter based therapy service for PE and would love to speak to you further about this. In a nutshell... you missed the point. But the point is not something the authors or sponsoring company were trying to prove, so you won't find it in the results section."

Happily, he was joking (sort of), but it did make us want to get him on and ask him all about something we have limited personal experience of. So, we did!

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In this 5 minute episode, Pip and Rich introduce the brand new Don't Just Read the Abstract Newsletter, a twice monthly update on all things medical haematology. Covering latest developments and publications in haemostasis, thrombosis, transfusion, immunohaematology, and red cell haematology, the newsletter will keep you up-to-date on what matters to patients.

Sign up at www.dontjustreadtheabstract.com.

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On this episode, Pip and Rich discuss Piazza et al. Apixaban for Extended Treatment of Provoked Venous Thromboembolism, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August 2025. This trial randomised 600 patients with VTE provoked by a transient risk factor but who also had at least one enduring risk factor, after completing 3 months of anticoagulation, to receive either apixaban 2.5 mg twice daily or placebo for 12 months. Extended apixaban reduced recurrent VTE from 10.0% to 1.3% (HR 0.13, 95% CI 0.04–0.36) with very low rates of major bleeding, though clinically relevant non-major bleeding was more frequent.

The caveat to these findings is the definition of "provoked" used in the trial, which is wide-ranging. This is an insightful discussion and is highly relevant to clinical practice.

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Prof. Isabelle Mahé is a cardiologist, triallist, and Professor of Internal Medicine Paris Cité University, France. She recently led the API-CAT study, a randomised controlled trial of apixaban 2.5 mg BD vs 5 mg BD for treatment of patients with cancer associated venous thromboembolism after 6 months of therapy. Pip and Rich discussed API-CAT in detail in episode 20 and now seize the opportunity to speak to an international expert and leader in the field about the art of the trial.

API-CAT was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025,

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In this episode, Pip and Rich go beyond the abstract of the API-CAT study, a randomised controlled trial of apixaban 5 mg BD vs 2.5 mg BD in patients with cancer-associated PE or DVT who have completed 6 months of anticoagulation. The study reported non-inferiority for low-dose apixaban in terms of VTE recurrence with a reduction in clinical relevant bleeding. This is an interesting, practice-changing study but there is plenty of nuance and a lot to discuss. Don't miss this one!

HaemSTAR is an independent UK-wide network of registrars in clinical haematology, interested in promoting and performing research in classical haematology. Our focus is on collaborative projects across haemostasis & thrombosis, transfusion, general haematology, and obstetric haematology.

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In this episode of Don't Just Read the Abstract, Pip and Rich critically appraise LUNA3, a 2:1 randomised controlled trial of rilzabrutinib vs placebo in adults with persistent or chronic ITP. This is the first therapy to prove an improvement in fatigue in ITP, but does it live up to expectation? Listen to this episode and find out.

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References

1. Kuter et al. 2025 - LUNA-3 Trial
2. Quality of Life Outcomes in Luna-3 (ASH Poster)

HaemSTAR is an independent UK-wide network of registrars in clinical haematology, interested in promoting and performing research in classical haematology. Our focus is on collaborative projects across haemostasis & thrombosis, transfusion, general haematology, and obstetric haematology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Megan Kell is a UK haematologist, currently practising in Sheffield. She is the Chair of the British Society of Haematology's Global Haematology Specialist Interest Group and has a long standing interest in Global Health. She recently returned from over two years working as one of only two haematologists in the small, west African nation of The Gambia. This is an eye-opening interview which makes you realise what we take for granted. There are some great stories in here about how to improvise, how to acquire what you need in a resource poor setting, and what's truly important in medicine. This is a must listen!

HaemSTAR is an independent UK-wide network of registrars in clinical haematology, interested in promoting and performing research in classical haematology. Our focus is on collaborative projects across haemostasis & thrombosis, transfusion, general haematology, and obstetric haematology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Pip interviews Dr Susie Shapiro, consultant haematologist in Oxford, UK, about the recent UK approval of efanesoctocog alfa, a very long half-life factor VIII product for severe haemophilia. To find out more about this treatment, listen to our first episode on the subject (Efanesoctocog alfa - a very long half life factor VIII) where we discuss the evidence.

HaemSTAR is an independent UK-wide network of registrars in clinical haematology, interested in promoting and performing research in classical haematology. Our focus is on collaborative projects across haemostasis & thrombosis, transfusion, general haematology, and obstetric haematology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Rich and Pip discuss the very long half life factor VIII product efanesoctocog alfa (trade names Altuvoct and Altuviiio). They discuss the 2023 NEJM paper that has recently prompted its approval for use in the UK NHS. This is the first of two episodes on this subject.

HaemSTAR is an independent UK-wide network of registrars in clinical haematology, interested in promoting and performing research in classical haematology. Our focus is on collaborative projects across haemostasis & thrombosis, transfusion, general haematology, and obstetric haematology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.