After undergoing a promising new treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Cole Malone is back to doing what he loves: playing on a flag football team with his twin brother, Michael. Cole and Michael Malone, who are 14, already know plenty about teamwork. Michael served as a perfect-match donor when Cole underwent a stem cell … Continued
Pediatric leukemia patient Emma Duffin is in remission, thanks to the stem cell transplant made possible by her brother, Alexander.
Leukemia, which usually occurs because of a mutation — or DNA change — is the most common childhood cancer. Some genetic syndromes can create a predisposition to leukemia, as well as other blood disorders.
Leukemia is a blood cancer that results when stem cells in the bone marrow produce abnormal blood cells.
Leukemia is a type of cancer that starts in early forms of white blood cells. White blood cells are cells that typically fight infections.
Pediatric leukemia is cancer of the blood and develops in the bone marrow. The bone marrow is the soft, spongy center of the long bones that produces the three major blood cells: white blood cells to fight infection; red blood cells that carry oxygen; and platelets that help the blood clot and stop bleeding. When … Continued
Like many of Dana-Farber’s youngest patients, 3-year-old Hannah Packman brought a favorite plaything to each of her Jimmy Fund Clinic visits. Lulu the doll, however, was unique because of the extra attention she received from pediatric social worker Deborah Berk, LICSW. When Hannah had a blood draw, Berk arranged for Lulu to have one as … Continued
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of leukemia in which a group of white blood cells, called lymphocytes, are affected. Leukemia is the most common form of cancer in children, and about 80 percent of children with leukemia have acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy was approved in August 2017 for the … Continued
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that a drug called CTL019 has become the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy approved to treat a form of cancer. The decision means the drug can be used as standard therapy for the treatment of pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) … Continued
Ben Blaisdell was a popular 16-year-old when he started experiencing uncharacteristic chills, which led to an anemia diagnosis and, soon after, the surprising news that he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The two-year treatment was tough on him and his entire family, but Blaisdell says that he wouldn’t change his cancer diagnosis even if he … Continued
By all accounts, Annie McNamara was living a typical young adult’s life in 2015. The 26-year-old lived in South Boston with a good friend from college, worked in Duxbury in the retail department of Island Creek Oysters, and liked spending time with her friends and boyfriend, Dan. She wasn’t a huge fan of the gym … Continued
After Lacey Martin’s leukemia didn’t respond to initial rounds of chemotherapy and after she spent 10 weeks hospitalized for a stem cell transplant, the 11-year-old New Hampshire girl went home March 2 with an external line for medications that her mother would have to flush and clean twice a day. Lacey’s immune system and infection-fighting … Continued
Holding hands, 3-year-old Teaghan Bresnahan and her mom run the length of the lake-front dock. At the dock’s end, Teaghan lets go – and gleefully leaps into the air to land in the water with a satisfying splash. It may seem a typical summer scene. But for Teaghan, who has been in treatment for … Continued
By Sara Dickison Taylor On June 2, 2008, my then 5 ½-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). My world would never be the same. My husband and I had an eerie sense that something was very wrong. Emily’s high fevers were not resolving, even after countless days of ibuprofen doses, and her … Continued
On September 24, 2015, in a sixth floor room at Boston Children’s Hospital, 5-year-old Logan Lesselroth pressed the button that started the transfer of his newly harvested blood stem cells to his 3-year-old sister, Gianna. “This,” Gianna told him, “is a gift from your body.” The path to that moment and the stem cell transplant’s … Continued
Although treatments for childhood cancer patients are improving, cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children. Doctors and researchers are also focused on decreasing the toxicity of these treatments, which can have side effects years after a child finishes treatment. “The war against childhood cancer is hardly over,” says Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, … Continued
By Jane Roper When our five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia (ALL) last summer, our world was turned upside down. Extended hospital stays, twice weekly clinic visits, the side effects of chemo and the constant possibility of unexpected hospital admissions mean stress and exhaustion for all of us — and looming in the background of … Continued