As powerful as modern cancer medicines are, they don’t work for everyone. What if there were a quick test doctors could perform on an individual person’s cancer to help determine which approved treatment would work best for them? This testing tool is in development now and could, with further research, become a valuable part of … Read more
There are two ways to fix things: the quick way and the careful one. In cancer, cells with BRCA1 mutations tend to choose the quick fix, leaving them vulnerable to medicines like PARP inhibitors. PARP inhibitors cause DNA to break. When broken strands and sketchy repairs build up, the cancer cell will die. One of … Read more
While participating in a clinical trial, Kathleen McEvoy-Schufreider, a 60-year-old communications executive living in Haverhill, Mass., traveled to Dana-Farber for scans every twelve weeks to monitor her cancer. In between appointments, it was hard to put the scans out of her mind. “I was living in twelve-week bursts,” says McEvoy-Schufreider, who was diagnosed with early-stage … Read more
It is now possible to perform cervical cancer screening from the comfort of your own home with a prescribed at-home test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The approved test enables people to collect their own vaginal samples at home and mail them in to a certified lab for testing. The test provides … Read more
Dana-Farber researchers have discovered ancient bacterial defenses and anti-defenses that may persist in some form in humans today and could provide insights into new approaches to cancer research and treatment. The tripwire is a go-to booby trap in movies. An aggressor trips over an unseen wire, setting off a trap that foils their plans. It’s … Read more
A burgeoning type of “omics” called immunopeptidomics is providing researchers with a powerful approach to discovering new ways to train a person’s immune system to fight cancer. In cancer research, the approach is being used to take an inventory of every flag on the surface of a cancer cell and determine what it is, if … Read more
Advances in cancer treatments depend on clinical trials of new drugs and other therapies. Nearly all cancer drugs in use today were tested in clinical trials. But in the United States, only 3 percent of cancer patients participate in these studies. Part of the reason is that there are many myths and misunderstandings that can keep patients … Read more
Clinical trials assess the safety and efficacy of new cancer drugs or drug combinations. The data and learnings these studies collect help regulators determine if the treatments should be approved and made broadly available to patients. Clinical researchers conduct clinical trials at cancer institutes, medical centers, clinics, and hospitals worldwide, all under strict guidelines. Many … Read more
Many animals, including house pets, produce their own vitamin C. Early human ancestors did too. But they lost the ability about 60 million years ago, trading the health benefits of vitamin C production for the ability to produce more energy. Yet vitamin C is still an essential nutrient for humans. Without it, humans develop scurvy, … Read more
The American Cancer Society 2025 Facts and Figures report contained alarming information about cancer rates in young women. Women under 50 are getting cancer more frequently than men of the same age. In 2022, for every young man who got cancer, about 1.5 young women did. Now that number is closer to 1.8. The cause … Read more
The human genome is a sequence of Ts, Gs, Cs, and As that is about 3 billion letters long. And, says Bradley Bernstein, MD, PhD, chair of Dana-Farber’s Department of Cancer Biology, “there’s no dictionary or guide for reading it.” Bernstein is trying to make such a resource. The efforts so far, carried out by … Read more
Dana-Farber’s Older Adult Gastrointestinal Cancer Program specializes in treating patients who are 65 and older and have gastrointestinal cancers, such as colorectal cancer, esophageal and gastric cancer, liver cancer, neuroendocrine and pancreatic cancer. “Older adults are richly complex and multidimensional,” says gastrointestinal and geriatric oncologist Nadine McCleary, MD, MPH, who leads the program. “They deserve … Read more
In December 2023, a space opened in a clinical trial at Dana-Farber of a novel targeted drug. Rosemary Conway, 68, who had stage IV lung cancer, was eager to fill it. She had been waiting nearly six years for a trial of a medicine that would target a specific genetic mutation driving the growth of … Read more
In recent decades, rates of some cancers, such as colorectal cancer, have been rising in young adults under the age of 50. One possible explanation for this rise is a parallel rise in obesity rates and changes in diet, activity levels and lifestyle. However, says Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, director of Dana-Farber’s Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer … Read more
People with Lynch syndrome have an elevated risk of developing colon cancer and several other cancers. For example, someone without the inherited condition has about a 5% chance of developing colon cancer. But for someone with Lynch syndrome, it could be anywhere from 22% to 74%. What if there were a way to reduce the … Read more
The number of people seeking care at the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence in Rwanda has been rising consistently over the last decade. Prior to that, very few people in Rwanda received cancer care, not because no one had cancer but because Rwanda had virtually no cancer care services. Over the last 12 years, the … Read more
A blood test can now detect the presence of 50 different cancers — most of which do not have any other means of screening. The test, the GRAIL Galleri multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test, reports results that include a yes or no readout regarding the presence of a potential cancer, plus the most likely location … Read more
Dana-Farber’s genitourinary cancer team is devoted to research that will advance patient care and improve patient’s lives. Recently, that research — all of it years in the making — has paid off with major achievements. This includes: “We are constantly striving to improve the treatment and diagnosis of genitourinary cancers,” says Toni Choueiri, MD, director … Read more
In 2021, a novel drug called belzutifan was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat clear cell renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer. Since then, Dana-Farber clinical investigator Panos Konstantinopoulos, MD, PhD, has wanted to launch a clinical trial of the drug for clear cell ovarian cancer. That vision … Read more
Pathologists at Dana-Farber analyze tumor samples from tissues collected from patients as part of research studies. Their goal is to learn as much as possible about the sample so that they determine the best way to diagnose the disease precisely and guide treatment decisions. As research advances, more and more factors are influencing diagnoses and … Read more