When Pedro Vianna, MD, was 5 years old, his mother took him to the pediatrician in their home country of Brazil. A lymph node on the left side of his neck had been swollen for weeks. While the pediatrician reassured his family that it was likely a reactive viral infection, Vianna’s mother, a hematologist, had … Read more
Dana-Farber physician-scientists presented results of more than 100 research studies at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting. Scientists shared findings across a range of hematologic disorders, underscoring the Institute’s dedication to innovation in hematologic oncology research, advances in early disease detection and intervention, and improving patient outcomes. ASH is the world’s most comprehensive hematology … 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
Bone marrow is the soft, spongy material inside our bones. Occupying one of the most protected places in the body, it produces nearly all the components of blood. These include red blood cells, which deliver oxygen throughout the body, white blood cells, which help fight disease, and platelets needed for clotting. The marrow generates approximately … Read more
When Mary Richichi flew from Boston to Utah this summer to attend her grandson’s wedding, she made sure to pack her dancing shoes. The 79-year-old was celebrating not only the happy couple’s big day, but the fact she was there to witness it, thanks to the Dana-Farber specialists who treated her breast cancer and are … Read more
The views discussed in this piece do not represent the U.S. Government. Sara Minkara lost her sight at the age of seven due to juvenile macular degeneration — a rare genetic condition — but she has never allowed that to slow her down. Once she grew up, she made her life’s goal helping the world … Read more
Hemoglobin is an essential protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen to your body’s organs and tissues and transports carbon dioxide from your organs and tissues back to your lungs. What type of cancer causes low hemoglobin? Anemia is essentially a blood condition marked by a low level of hemoglobin and red blood cells, and in some cases … Read more
Jeffrey Borges was used to hearing that doctors had few good treatments for his mastocytosis. He’d heard it when he was first diagnosed with the disease at age 16 and a course of antihistamines and ultraviolet light therapy had little effect on the rash that covered most of his body. He heard it in his … Read more
Bone marrow failure occurs when the bone marrow – the soft, spongy center of the bones – fails to produce enough healthy blood cells to keep up with the body’s needs.
One of the most exciting new cancer treatments, CAR T-cell therapy takes its complicated name, in part, from a fire-breathing monster in an ancient Greek myth. CAR is an acronym for “chimeric antigen receptor,” referring to genetically engineered molecules manufactured in a laboratory, inserted into the genetic material of immune T cells that have been removed from … Read more
Mastocytosis is a rare type of mast cell disorder characterized by the abnormal accumulation of mast cells in various organ systems such as the skin, liver, spleen, intestine, or bone marrow. It is one of two major types of mast cell disorders; the other major, more common type is mast cell activation syndrome. To keep … Read more
The vow Chukwuma Anyanwu made to himself shortly after the birth of his third child in June 2015 speaks volumes, not only about the dire state of his health at the time but also about the mettle with which he is made. “My goal was to be able to walk before my son did,” the … Read more
Tracy Antonelli was four when she was diagnosed with thalassemia, a rare blood disorder that occurs often enough in Mediterranean countries like Italy that an old adage, uttered only partially in jest, warns Italian-Americans against marrying other Italian-Americans. In 2002, a grown-up Antonelli wed Patrick Mooty, whose background is mostly Irish. Their three daughters – … Read more
Many of the secrets of why precancerous conditions sometimes become cancerous are hidden in cells’ genes. At Dana-Farber, researchers are collecting tissue samples to see if they can pry open those secrets and unlock new treatment options for certain types of blood cancers and other blood disorders. They’re also exploring whether tumor DNA floating in … Read more
It might sound counterintuitive, but not every patient comes to Dana-Farber for cancer treatment. For example, the Institute’s experts regularly see patients seeking help with benign (non-cancerous) blood disorders. Benign blood disorders such as anemia and sickle cell disease are often treated at cancer centers because such institutions are home to experts in hematology, which … Read more