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. It facilitates a complex of proteins involved in a cellular process called histone methylation, where chemical units called methyl groups are added to histone proteins that anchor DNA, thereby activating … 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
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
CAR T cells’ superpower is to identify cancer-related targets on the surface of tumor cells and order an attack on those cells. But they lack anything resembling X-ray vision to detect nefarious protein targets within tumor cells. That shortfall has limited their effectiveness in diseases like acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), in which tumor cells display few surface … Read more
For Duane Witter, the most difficult part of his cancer treatment was recovering from his stem cell transplant and having to step away from teaching and coaching high school basketball in Farmington, CT. “Before all this, I used to say that my superpower was to never miss a day of school,” he says. “Stepping away … 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
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
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signed off on a new targeted treatment for some patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an often aggressive disease and the most common adult acute leukemia. The FDA approved the drug Idhifa (enasidenib) specifically for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory AML who have … Read more
After walking 1,000 miles in his bare feet to escape war, and then flying 7,000 more to a new life, it was a few, short steps into a hospital room that helped Panther Ajak Mayen complete his journey. One of the “Lost Boys of Sudan” who escaped a civil war in his homeland 30 years … Read more
By Ronni Gordon When my year of isolation ended after a stem cell transplant at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in 2003, I looked for a blood cancer support group near my home in western Massachusetts. I found support groups for just about everyone except patients like me with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other … Read more
Active in physical pursuits and a world traveler, Harry Beskind, MD, was surprised when he started feeling tired while on a bike ride in 2014. He had just returned home from a river trip to Portugal with his wife, and Beskind, then 82, was having trouble riding up hills on his bike. “I thought I was just … Read more
It looked like a scientific dead end – a clinical trial that found no benefit to a potential drug for a form of leukemia. But, like police detectives working a cold case, Dana-Farber scientists gathered hundreds of tissue samples that had been collected for the study – most of them languishing in laboratory cabinets, destined … Read more