As head of marketing for a leading international news agency, Kelly Ives routinely worked with journalists across the globe. When it came to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), however, it was her own reporting skills that led Ives to a life-changing treatment. Ives was a 37-year-old mom with a career and three young children, including an … Read more
Although stem cell transplantation is the only current therapy with the potential to cure myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), it is rarely used as an initial treatment for older patients because it hasn’t been proven superior to other therapies. New research by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators stands to overturn that practice. In a clinical trial involving 384 … Read more
Studies in large populations have shown that people who have a near relative with a form of lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have an increased risk of developing these diseases themselves. Both lymphoma and CLL are relatively uncommon: the average person’s lifetime risk of developing CLL, for example, is 0.57%, according to the American … Read more
Although multiple myeloma is relatively rare — accounting for about 2% of all cancers — it is twice as common among African Americans as white Americans. Every year, nearly 35,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. About 24% of those cases are in African … Read more
After successfully donating stem cells to her brother, Drew, during his treatment for the blood disorder aplastic anemia, Sarah Montgomery was ready and willing to make the life-saving gesture again. When the call came to do so, however, she was forced to decline for a very understandable reason: Her own stem cell transplant. In the … Read more
Life is like a Mad-Lib, and Jennifer White is taking control of what she can fill in the blank spaces. The Atlanta-based cyber security consultant was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in January 2019. In July of that same year, White, a Boston native, came to Dana-Farber. She currently comes to Boston four times … Read more
Cancer cells have a bias toward survival, often becoming heavily reliant on certain protein pathways to sustain themselves. Scientists are finding ways to turn that survival instinct into a liability — by making the cells even more dependent on those pathways, then choking the pathways off. It’s an approach that has now yielded a promising … Read more
Rizwan Romee, MD, is a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber and treats patients with advanced blood cancers such as leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. He is also the director of the Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Dana-Farber and principal investigator of the Romee Lab for NK Cell Gene Manipulation and Therapy. Why did you decide to … Read more
Chris Devin never expected to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma at the age of 45 — and being told he had cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic was far from ideal. But Devin quickly learned that he could rely on his team at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) for the best treatment options. While COVID-19 … Read more
As head of a family that includes seven children and 12 grandchildren, Susan Voigt says she is used to putting other people first. When it comes to trailblazing multiple myeloma treatment, however, she is proudly out in front. A longtime Vermont resident, Voigt, 69, was the first person from her state to receive CAR T-cell … Read more
Richter’s syndrome involves the rapid transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) into a significantly more aggressive form of lymphoma, usually diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), but occasionally Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). It arises in 2-10% of all patients with CLL and can occur at any time in the course of the disease. The goal of treatment … Read more
Ken Karnes enjoys his whirlwind of a life. If he’s not traveling to Europe or Asia for his high-tech job — pandemics permitting — he and his wife Mary are busy keeping up with their four daughters, two sons-in-law, and three grandchildren. Road races are also on the 60-year-old’s agenda, with an eye toward his … Read more
Indolent lymphomas are types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that grow and spread slowly. They account for about 40% of all NHL cases in the United States and generally arise later in life. Treatment for indolent lymphomas depends on a variety of factors, including the type and stage of the disease (how far it has advanced). … Read more
Blood cancers (or hematologic cancers) are diseases that originate in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow or cells within in the immune system. There are three main types of blood cancers: Leukemia: cancer that originates in the body’s blood-forming tissues, such as the bone marrow. The disease causes large numbers of myeloid blood cells … Read more
Treatment for acute forms of adult leukemia has advanced markedly since the days when all patients generally received the same course of treatment. A patient’s age and overall health, the type of leukemia he or she has, and the goal of therapy all influence the treatment plan. What are the types of acute leukemia? There … Read more
Tiffany “Tiff” Trant couldn’t help but smile. All three of her children were home, and the family was deciding on dinner and a group activity. They thought about working on a puzzle, sitting down for their reoccurring poker game, or just spending the night talking. These simple pleasures have gained new meaning ever since Trant … Read more
What is BPDCN? Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare but aggressive blood cancer that can affect the skin, blood, and bone marrow. It has characteristics similar to leukemias and lymphomas, but almost always first appears as lesions in the skin. What are the treatment options for BPDCN? The first drug that was … Read more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a novel targeted drug to treat acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in older patients, a segment of the blood cancer population in dire need of improved therapies. In a phase 3 clinical trial, researchers showed that the oral drug, venetoclax (or Venclexta), when given along with azacitidine, could … Read more
Tim O’Neill likes to keep moving — whether on his boat, his motorcycle, in his running shoes, or while steering an RV across 47 states. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has failed to stop him from these pursuits, and he’s determined not to let a pandemic do so either. “I’m more careful these days because of … Read more
The go-to metaphor for cancer drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors is a brake-release lever — a means of setting loose an immune system attack on tumor cells. Helpful as it is, the analogy glosses over a highly complex mechanism involving multiple types of immune cells, cell receptors, signals, and responses — so intricate that … Read more