Ina enjoys traveling, time with her two daughters, son-in-law, and granddaughters, reading, and taking ballet lessons at the Boston Ballet School. Her latest adventure recently took her to the Netherlands and Belgium for an all-ladies river cruise to see the tulips. “Trips like that are great medicine too,” says Ina, who was diagnosed in 2020 … Read more
There are more microorganisms in the world than we can count, and just a portion—trillions worth — are inside us. The bacteria in your mouth, the fungi on your skin, or the viruses in your gut build complex communities that reproduce and adapt quickly. We may not be able to see these little critters, but … Read more
In April, Riley McDevitt received test results from her genetic counselor at Dana-Farber. Tests showed a diagnosis of Lynch syndrome and McDevitt knew exactly what she wanted to do after hearing the news: celebrate with her family over tacos. The diagnosis wasn’t entirely unexpected. “I have a family history of Lynch syndrome, so I’ve known … Read more
When the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies’ Practice Manager Sara Menendez, LAT, ATC, learned she had Lynch syndrome at age 30, she had dozens of questions. A hereditary condition, Lynch syndrome raises a person’s risk for cancer in several organs including the colon, endometrium, ovaries, and skin. Suddenly faced with this new information, … Read more
As she got out of the car and waved goodbye to her husband and her mother, Margaret-Ann Simonetta’s shoulders stiffened with anxiety. It was April 2021, still in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and she was headed into Brigham and Women’s Hospital for a colectomy – a total surgical removal of her colon. With … Read more
Rare genetic cancers may affect few people, but their complexity makes them powerful windows into how even the most common cancers develop and behave. Delving into understanding how DNA is damaged and repaired in rare genetic conditions is how physician-scientist Alan D’Andrea, MD, built a foundation of knowledge about Fanconi anemia (FA) – a rare genetic disease of the bone marrow that significantly increases the risk of certain cancers. In people with … Read more
In March 2016, two months before joining Dana-Farber, Sara Menendez, LAT, ATC, attended LYNKED IN, an annual one-day conference hosted by Dana-Farber’s Lynch Syndrome Center. The event gave her an opportunity to meet colleagues and learn about treatment advances, screening guidelines, and prevention efforts for Lynch syndrome, an inherited and often underdiagnosed condition that increases … Read more
People with Lynch syndrome have an elevated risk of developing colon cancer and several other cancers. For example, someone without the inherited condition has about a 5% chance of developing colon cancer. But for someone with Lynch syndrome, it could be anywhere from 22% to 74%. What if there were a way to reduce the … Read more
The Scragg family always knew it was a possibility, but it still came as a shock. It was August 2021, and Mark Scragg, then 33, was undergoing treatment for stage 4 stomach cancer. After just three months of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, scans showed no sign of the tumor first discovered in his stomach that spring … Read more
Six years ago, Ina Kornetsky was looking forward to a new chapter in her life. The lifelong teacher had most recently worked with older adults before retiring, and she had a deep understanding of the kind of life she wanted as she approached 90. She was preparing to move from Stoughton, Mass. into a continuing … Read more
Elizabeth Johnston, then 37, was healthy and busy with two young children and a blossoming career running a public relations firm in Connecticut. One of her clients is the Hartford Marathon Foundation and in 2015, she decided to start running smaller stretches herself. “I was in the best shape of my life,” Johnston recalls. Little … Read more
The first time Jay Reese was diagnosed with colon cancer, he didn’t tell his preschool-aged children. After it came back decades later, he told them immediately — and then suggested they take action. Jay underwent genetic testing after his 2012 colon cancer recurrence which revealed he had Lynch syndrome, an inherited genetic condition which carries … Read more
Lynch syndrome is an inherited condition that increases an individual’s risk for certain types of cancer. It’s caused by a mutation in any of five specific genes: MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EPCAM. People born with a mutation in one or more of these genes have a significantly increased risk of developing colorectal or uterine cancer and a somewhat … Read more
For a while, Stephanie Dobson attributed her gastrointestinal issues to her pregnancy. It was her second, a girl born in May 2023, a baby sister to her son. But when the symptoms persisted for the 34-year-old mother, she raised the issue with her primary care provider. She was encouraged to see a gastroenterologist. On an … Read more
People who inherit mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are at heightened risk for a variety of cancers, including breast, ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic. It’s estimated that one in 300-400 people in the general population carry a mutation in either of these genes. Among people of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent, the prevalence is … Read more
A gene mutation is a change in the genetic instructions in a cell. Genes are the DNA-encoded instructions for building proteins, which are the machinery that does the work inside our cells and our bodies. Some mutations change the function of proteins in ways that increase the risk of cancer or drive its growth. Gene … Read more
Results of several phase 3 trials and dozens of other studies led by Dana-Farber researchers were presented online and in person June 3-7 at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world’s largest clinical cancer research meeting. Some of the research reports presented by Dana-Farber investigators include: Improved progression-free … Read more
Because of his adopted family’s cancer history, the director of Dana-Farber’s Lynch Syndrome Center, Matt Yurgelun, MD, is uniquely invested in helping patients with Lynch syndrome — a common and often under-diagnosed inherited condition. Eight of the 13 in his grandfather’s generation ultimately developed some form of cancer, and it wasn’t until later that Matt … Read more
A relatively small proportion of breast cancers are caused by alterations in inherited genes that sharply increase the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. One of these genes has recently been receiving new attention: PALB2, a potent breast cancer susceptibility gene related to the better-known BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Someone who inherits a PALB2 mutation faces … Read more
What are the BRCA genes? The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes play a big role in preventing cancer. They belong to a class of genes called tumor suppressors, which ensure that cells don’t grow or divide too rapidly by fixing naturally occurring errors in DNA from reproduction during cell division. BRCA testing checks for mutations in … Read more