The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved daraxonrasib for adults with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who have received at least one prior systemic therapy or are not candidates for multiagent systemic therapy. “This is an exceptional moment for patients with pancreatic cancer,” says Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic … Read more
As a post-doctoral fellow, Elizabeth Stover, MD, PhD, wanted to understand how ovarian cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy becomes less effective over time for most patients with metastatic ovarian cancer. She ran an unbiased screen – a way to look at every gene in the human genome and see which ones protect ovarian … Read more
Peptides are the latest rave among social media influencers interested in longevity and biohacking. These substances, which typically need to be taken via injection, are touted as miracle drugs that speed healing, cure insomnia, improve energy and build muscle. However, there is little scientific evidence to support these claims. In July 2026, a U.S. Food … Read more
When patients with bladder cancer complete treatment that is intended to cure the cancer, they may be left wondering if there is anything else they should do to keep the cancer from coming back. For patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer – where the disease is at a higher risk of coming back than early-stage … Read more
Imagine reporting for duty and finding your director asleep, or worse, absent. Without a place to go and a task to perform, you have little choice but to sit idle. This scenario is exactly what cancer wants for T cells, the foot soldiers of the immune system. T cells get their marching orders to fight … Read more
While men are four times more likely to develop bladder cancer as they age, women and African Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease at a later stage, when treatment is less likely to be curative. The key to an early diagnosis is a timely visit to a urologist, a specialist who … Read more
Acute leukemias are life-threatening blood conditions that need urgent treatment. Approved targeted therapies such as BCL2, IDH, and menin inhibitors have expanded treatment options for certain patients, but determining if a given patient might benefit from one of these treatments can take time. Doctors need to order multiple complex diagnostic workups that can take days … Read more
The third year Jerome Krasnow’s annual bloodwork came back showing signs of anemia, his doctor sent him to a hematologist. That doctor diagnosed multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. “Most people with multiple myeloma find out because they are in pain or breaking bones,” says Krasnow, who was diagnosed at age 70 and is … Read more
New medicines called RAS inhibitors are dramatically changing the way pancreatic cancer will be treated over the coming years. They are a beacon of hope for patients with the disease. One oral RAS inhibitor for pancreatic cancer has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adult patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma … Read more
Mary Shertenlieb wanted to toe the line at the Boston Marathon in 2025, but her body was not on board; she was in the middle of treatment for her fourth cancer diagnosis. This year, however, she ran, completing her fifth Boston and her sixth marathon overall. “I feel so lucky that I get to do this,” says Shertenlieb, age 50, who has raised $156,000 to date for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “I feel this tremendous gratitude at the start line for the generosity and understanding … Read more
Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD, has been trying to understand how breast cancer forms ever since starting her lab at Dana-Farber in 1998. Specifically, she has wanted to know how ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a pre-cancerous state that appears only in the milk ducts in the breast, changes into invasive breast cancer, which is breast … Read more
A cancer clinical trial is a research study that is designed to test new ways to treat cancer. Trials test a range of possibilities, from treatment, devices, and diagnostics to screening, approaches to prevention, and other forms of intervention. Clinical trials determine if a given intervention is safe and effective and are essential for improvements in cancer medicine. “All of the medicines and approaches that we use to treat cancer are available because they … Read more
It was a hot day on the links in New Hampshire in July 2014. Carol MacKenzie recalls that her neck was strangely sore. By the end of the round of golf, she had a fever. Soon after, MacKenzie met with an oncologist. In 1996, she had been diagnosed with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer and successfully treated. Eighteen years later, … Read more
Dienna Lehner grew up in a Massachusetts town with a small ski hill and a rope tow. “It was hot dogs, tomato soup, and an outdoor fireplace,” she recalls. “And it was Nirvana.” Later in life, she opted to spend her winters in Park City, Utah, to enjoy big mountain skiing. The conditions have been mild this year, but last year she skied all season – which … Read more
In the rare event that an elevator cable breaks, modern buildings have additional fail-safe mechanisms. For example, counterweight and mechanical brakes prevent the car from plummeting to the ground. Similarly, cells have fail-safe mechanisms to prevent them from death under stress, according to new research from the lab of Dana-Farber investigator Loren Walensky, MD, PhD. A well-known process in cells keeps pro-death proteins at bay. Walensky … Read more
Under a microscope, normal adipose cells – which make up the body’s fatty tissue – look a bit like densely packed raindrops on a windshield. Each cell is filled with fat and is highly biologically active, regulating both metabolism and immunity. Liposarcoma, a cancer subtype that affects adipose tissue, perturbs these essential activities. In some … Read more
Cancer treatment has evolved dramatically in the first quarter of this century, but there is still much more to do to improve the lives of people with cancer. At Dana-Farber, research continues in the clinic and in the lab in efforts to continue to bring advancements in treatment and prevention for patients. That research has resulted in exciting … Read more
There are over 100 precision medicines approved for the treatment of cancer. These therapies work to shut down the cancer-driving effects of specific mutations. Matching a patient to a medicine — the practice of precision oncology — is complex and advancing rapidly. However, there is no easy, standardized way for oncologists to stay informed of advances. “The clinicians we engaged with said that catching up with FDA approvals is far … Read more
As we close out the first quarter of the twenty-first century, it isn’t hard to notice how much the world has changed since the year 2000. Smartphones. Social media. Artificial intelligence. But how much has cancer care changed? A lot. Possibly more than you think. Treatment for many cancers now include many options beyond chemotherapy, … Read more
In February 2024, while being treated for pneumonia, doctors noticed that Rebecca Santorelli’s spleen was enlarged. “No one was concerned at first,” recalls Santorelli, 61, who lives outside of Albany, New York. Doctors estimate spleen size with fingerbreadths — or approximate widths of a finger — below the rib cage, with normal being about zero. … Read more