Hearing Loss and Cancer Care: Important Facts and Resources 

Treatments used for many forms of cancer, as well as certain rare types of cancer that directly affect the ear(s), can affect your hearing. It’s important to understand the possibilities and know what to look for because, in some cases, early action can help. If you are affected by hearing loss, there are also resources … Read more

CNS Lymphoma Patient Grateful For Healthy New Chapter of Family Life

Brian Humberd firmly believes in an attitude of gratitude. The biotech recruiter from Melrose, Massachusetts remains eternally grateful to Dana-Farber medical oncologist David Fisher, MD, who not only recommended a life-saving stem cell transplant to treat his central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, but whose advice enabled Humberd to become a father after his cancer treatments. … Read more

FDA Approves New Treatment Option For Glioma

In an era when targeted therapies are often effective against multiple types of cancer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval of a two-drug therapy for solid tumors carrying a specific mutation in the BRAF gene is a prime example of this trend. For patients with glioma brain cancer that harbors the mutation, the … Read more

Advances in Myeloma, Breast Cancer, and Clinical Trials Equity: A Dana-Farber Research Update

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

CNS Lymphoma Survivor Stays on Call with Immunotherapy

Stephan Bunker has learned to be prepared for anything during a half-century protecting others as a soldier, volunteer firefighter, law enforcement official, and director of 911 dispatchers for the state of Maine. So when Bunker was the one facing an emergency — a diagnosis of a brain cancer known as primary central nervous system (CNS) … Read more

For Afghanistan War Veteran, Immunotherapy Makes Gains Against Brain Cancer

A compound that sparks an immune system attack on cancer while also lowering tumor cells’ defenses against such an attack is showing promise in its first clinical trial in patients with advanced or metastatic cancers. One of those with the best result is a former U.S. Marine and Afghanistan war veteran, Josh Mahoney. Mahoney, of … Read more

Glioblastoma Patient Enjoys Steady Health and New Adventures

If you happened to be looking for Alex Epshteyn this past winter, you might have found him on the ski slopes. The Charlestown, Massachusetts resident took up the sport just two years ago and has since been enthusiastically sharpening his skills. “I’m overcoming my fear and making progress, which is a great feeling,” Epshteyn says. … Read more

Drugs Targeting a Pathway in Glioblastoma Must Clear a High Bar, Study Suggests

Researchers had every reason to expect that a compound called BKM120 (also known as buparlisib) would stifle glioblastoma brain tumors lacking the protein PTEN. After all, it was known to block the tumor-promoting PI3K protein and could easily pass through the blood-brain barrier — the dense layer of cells that guards entry to the brain … Read more

Glioblastoma Patient Marks Major Milestones in Treatment and Life

OK Eason doesn’t mind jokes about his unique first name, especially lately. Healthy and thriving more than 30 months after a massive tumor was found in his brain, Eason takes pleasure in telling people that he is more than just “O.K.” Eason, 69, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in February 2018. He had surgery immediately, … Read more

Experts and Attitude Help Grandfather Face Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma

Steve Kelley is the quintessential glass half-full guy. Still, he realizes his reaction to learning he had an extremely rare cancer known as central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma may seem unusual. A few weeks after his June 2018 diagnosis, Kelley, then 64, gathered his family and friends together. He didn’t want to focus negatively on … Read more

What Does a Brain Tumor ‘Feel Like’?

We asked neuro-oncologists Lakshmi Nayak, MD, and Eudocia Quant Lee, MD, MPH, from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Center for Neuro-Oncology, to review the red flags that warrant a medical follow up: Headaches that are new or worsening, especially in a person who doesn’t normally have headaches. Often they are worse when lying down and in the … Read more

Exceptional Immunotherapy Response Triggers Search for the Cause

Six years’ worth of repeated surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy with three different agents failed to halt the growth of Frances Zichichi’s brain tumor. As it kept recurring and more surgeries were required, Zichichi lost the use of her left side. Eventually the cancer formed masses under her scalp, causing pain, which was dulled only with … Read more

Mother and Son Support Each Other Through Each Other’s Cancer

Anne Palmer never thought she’d face a tougher challenge than aggressive breast cancer. Then, shortly after finishing treatment, she learned her 25-year-old son, Kevin, had an inoperable brain tumor. The two diagnoses, which came in 2012 and 2014, allowed mother and son – who were already close – to bond even more deeply during their … Read more