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
Infusion Nurse Jolie Bellemore, BSN, RN, has some experience with American Sign Language (ASL) from college, and was excited to use her knowledge when she was paired with a new 13-year-old patient who was Deaf. However, as Bellmore attempted to converse in sign language with Honoka Kobori, both of them quickly realized that they were … 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
The first time Ashley Bernath dropped her then-three-year-old daughter, Charlie, off at preschool, there was no hug, no tears, no long goodbye — just a quick “see you later” and a full-steam-ahead dash for the classroom. Charlie’s excitement that morning in September 2025 was understandable. She had spent the previous 15 months in active cancer … 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
When Ann Carroll was diagnosed with cancer at age 28, her dream to get married and have a baby felt out of reach. Now, seven years later and cancer-free, she is living that dream with her husband and their 7-month-old son, Teddy. “I didn’t think I would get this far,” says Carroll, of Boston, Massachusetts. “My whole journey started when I walked into my doctor’s office because I wasn’t feeling well.” As a graduate student in 2019 studying clinical psychology at Northwestern University, Carroll started experiencing lightheadedness and tunnel … Read more
Bill Kelley’s unbreakable bond with the clinical team that guided him through myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of rare blood disorders impacting the bone marrow, and a stem cell transplant was never more evident than during a Sunday night in the summer of 2025. Kelley’s sister Joan had arranged a surprise 70th birthday baseball outing for him and 30 of his friends and family members at Boston’s Fenway Park, where Kelley had grown up … 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
“The world needs more Dr. Soiffers – and more Nicoles.” Such is the wisdom of Judy Mangione, 80, who credits these two individuals for the fulfilling life she is enjoying with her husband, Bob, and their combined six children and 10 grandchildren. Robert Soiffer, MD, treated Mangione with the January 2022 stem cell transplant that … Read more
Menin, a protein located in the nucleus of various human cell types, often functions as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting excessive cell growth and division. If a mutation in the menin gene causes the protein to be defective or absent, uncontrolled cell growth begins — cell growth that could lay the foundations for cancer. Dana-Farber research has also found that menin in its normal form has … Read more
Over the last decade, significant strides have been made in understanding the molecular underpinnings of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in adults, which has led to better drugs and better treatment outcomes for patients. This shifting landscape now makes it possible for cancer researchers and providers to ask, “How can we do better?” Dana-Farber medical oncologist … Read more
Naomi Dogan, PhD, still remembers a visit to the hospital earlier this year for blood work, after joining a clinical trial for patients incurring symptoms related to polycythemia vera — one of a group of rare blood disorders known as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). In a far corner of the large room a machine quietly hummed … Read more
While hematological cancers like leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma involve white blood cells, other, rarer hematologic malignancies affect red blood cells and platelets. These include polycythemia vera, in which the bone marrow produces too many red blood cells, and essential thrombocythemia, in which platelets levels are abnormally high. Both are chronic diseases that can usually … Read more
BCL2 inhibitors are drugs that prompt cancer cells to die by altering the interactions among key proteins within the cells. They were clinically developed, in large part, by researchers at Dana-Farber and have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia … Read more
When Youling Sun was diagnosed in Shanghai, China, with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2018, he called his son, Conghao, in Boston, for advice. His son’s message was unequivocal: Come to Boston for your treatment. Today, Sun, a retired office worker from Shanghai, has multiple reasons to be thankful he took that advice — both … Read more
A pair of subversives, the genes BTK and PLCG2 are often mutated in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) that is resistant to the drug ibrutinib. But how common are these genetic alterations and to what extent do they contribute to ibrutinib resistance? The answers will help doctors determine which targeted therapies are most likely to help … Read more
Michelle Karalekas’ time in the Mont Tremblant Ironman Triathlon in Quebec on Aug. 20 — 14 hours, 5 minutes — was not her fastest in the grueling event, but it may have been her most impressive. It was the first time she’d competed since undergoing a stem cell transplant for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) almost … Read more
A novel hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) method utilizing ‘graft sculpting’ is being tested in a phase 1 clinical trial in patients with refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who are at the highest risk of relapse after ‘standard’ transplants. In fact, the patients in the trial don’t qualify for a standard … Read more
Drugs known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, or TKIs, have revolutionized the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a type of cancer in which the bone marrow produces too many semi-mature white blood cells. Prior to the introduction of these drugs in the early 2000s, standard first-line treatments for the disease reduced CML levels in only … Read more
While some racial and ethnic groups have been underrepresented in clinical trials of therapies for lung cancer, breast cancer and other malignancies, researchers speculated that the situation might be different for adult leukemia trials. The unique features of the disease — the speed with which it needs to be treated after diagnosis, the delivery of … Read more