Normal human cells need just the right amount of oxygen — not too much and not too little — to survive and stay healthy. This critical balance is regulated by an intricate oxygen-sensing process in the body, the discovery of which earned the 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine shared by Dana-Farber scientist William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD, and … Read more
Most patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) now have several options for first-line therapy, thanks to new clinical trial results and novel targeted agents. Many patients with CLL, a slowly progressive blood cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells, don’t need immediate treatment but can be observed — sometimes for many years … Read more
Chemotherapy has been the backbone of treatment for both untreated and relapsed/refractory (R/R) classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). But treatment paradigms for cHL are changing. Immunotherapies that unmask cancer cells and make them vulnerable to our immune system, called immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), were recently approved for relapsed and refractory cHL. Examples include PD-1 inhibitors such … Read more
If you have had a biopsy or surgery that removes tissue from your body, in almost all cases a sample will be sent to a pathology lab for examination. Pathologists, who specialize in looking at microscopic tissue samples, will look for signs of disease. Their findings will be detailed in a pathology report. The first … Read more
Immunotherapy refers to treatments that use the body’s immune system to combat diseases. Immuno-oncology focuses on efforts to use the immune system as a weapon against cancer. The immune system is a collection of organs, tissues, specialized cells, and substances that protect the body against infection and disease. While the immune system can often handle very small … Read more
CCUS is a condition in which a person has a low blood count — a low level of certain kinds of blood cells — without an apparent cause, and a portion of the blood cells carry an acquired genetic mutation. The condition, which is usually diagnosed after a routine blood test followed by specialized molecular … Read more
Recently, at-home genetic tests that claim to determine a person’s potential risk for health conditions, such as cancer, have become available. However, the ability of at-home genetic tests to provide information about your cancer risk is very limited.
Every year in the United States, one in 3,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy.
Gene therapy is a way of treating or preventing disease by altering the genetic instructions within an individual’s cells.
So far, CDK4/6 inhibitors have been shown to be most effective in treating advanced estrogen-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.
A stem cell transplant is an infusion of healthy stem cells. Stem cells are located within the bone marrow and are the cells from which all other blood cells and the immune system are created. Introducing healthy stem cells into the blood enables the production of all of the different parts of the blood that both the … Read more
For patients with multiple myeloma, a treatable but incurable cancer that affects blood plasma cells, there are many new options for treatment that are producing better, and increasingly long-lasting outcomes. There are also therapies under investigation that show similar promise for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, and a pre-cancerous condition called smoldering myeloma, with a beneficial impact felt across the whole spectrum of disease. “This is a … Read more
The vast majority of cancers do not have a strong hereditary link, but for people who have been diagnosed with cancer or have a significant family history of the disease, genetic testing can often shed light on the cause of the disease or an individual’s likelihood of developing it or other cancers. This information can … Read more
PARP inhibitors are a targeted therapy used to treat certain cancers, including breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancer, particularly in patients with BRCA1/2 mutations or other mutations that affect DNA repair systems in cells. They block proteins called PARPs (or Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases) that play an important role in the life of a cell. When … Read more
Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer where cancer cells do not contain estrogen receptors or progesterone receptors, and HER2 receptors are also absent or present at low levels. Triple-negative breast cancer accounts for roughly 15% of all breast cancer cases and can be somewhat more aggressive than hormone-positive or HER2-positive breast cancer. Who is most at risk for … Read more
HER2-positive breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer. Approximately 20% of breast cancer cases are HER2-positive.  HER2, which stands for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, is a protein that appears on healthy breast cells in low numbers and is vital for the normal growth of breast cells. HER2-positive cancers have higher than normal levels of … Read more
A mammogram is the most effective test for detecting early breast cancer. It is a special X-ray of the breast that can reveal tumors that are often too small to be felt or noticed on a physical examination. It can also show other changes in the breast that doctors believe may suggest breast cancer.  Having … Read more
In its early stages, ovarian cancer can be hard to detect; symptoms can go unnoticed or may be attributed to other, more common health problems. However, symptoms do exist and can include: Typically, symptoms worsen over time. While there is no proven screening method for early-stage ovarian cancer and detection is difficult, it is important to understand … Read more
American women have a 12 percent lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer, the second most common cancer in women, according to the American Cancer Society. While young women do get breast cancer, the disease is much more common in women aged 60 and older. Rachel Freedman, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist at the  … Read more
Although most cancers are sporadic or occur by chance, a small percentage are due to inherited genetic (or germline) mutations, which can often be identified through genetic testing. These mutations are different from mutations that spontaneously occur during one’s lifetime, called somatic mutations. Somatic mutations are discovered through genetic testing of a tumor sample. Inherited mutations … Read more