Nolan and Natasha might never have met if they hadn’t been diagnosed with bone cancer. Nolan, 13, is a natural athlete who lives in Maine. Natasha, 11, lives in Rhode Island and loves music and theater. As kids go, the two are pretty different — except for their osteosarcoma diagnoses and the surgery they received … Read more
Vaccines play a vital role in helping to keep us safe. They work by introducing our bodies to a weakened or modified version of a particular virus (such as measles, mumps, etc.). This allows our immune system to produce antibodies — proteins used by the immune system to attack and destroy foreign substances — in … Read more
For years, Donna Martin carried a piece of scrap paper with the words “dyskeratosis congenita,” which she believed might explain her son Brad’s sudden, mysterious affliction. A routine blood test had revealed Brad’s bone marrow was failing, unable to keep up with his need for healthy blood cells. His condition, Donna knew, would worsen over … Read more
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, labs across the world have been in lockdown, while researchers eagerly prepare to return to work when it is safe to do so. Three cancer researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center share some of the experiences and challenges they’ve faced during COVID-19, as well as … Read more
By Ben Lepper Most people my age look at COVID-19 as a burden on their everyday lives of seeing friends, hanging out, and going to college. I see it differently. As an active cancer patient being treated for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), I am immunocompromised. This puts me at especially high risk for … Read more
How does a person get coronavirus? Coronavirus is spread primarily by exposure to respiratory droplets that are generated when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. If these droplets come in contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth of another person, infection can develop. Infected droplets can remain active on surfaces for some time. This can happen, for … Read more
On June 16, 2019, our 4-year-old son, Evan, fell off a jungle gym at daycare. At first, his daycare provider thought he was fine. He got right up and seemed to recover. She called me and we agreed to watch him to see if there were any changes. A couple hours later, Evan started throwing … Read more
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a blood cancer affecting both adults and children, requires more than one genetic “hit” to develop. As we age, many of us acquire a mutation that enables certain of our blood cells to multiply faster than others, forming their own distinct population. This first hit, known as “clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate … Read more
Neuroblastoma is a rare childhood cancer affecting about 800 children each year in the United States. Because of its unusual behavior — tumors in infants often disappear spontaneously without treatment while it can be aggressive in toddlers — studying the disease has been complicated. That may change with a new research tool: a mouse genetically altered … Read more
More than 40 years after a then-experimental bone marrow transplant for aplastic anemia, Jessica Brilliant Keener is thriving — and giving back every day to the institutions that gave her a second chance at life. Aplastic anemia occurs when bone marrow needed to supply all the body’s blood cells produces too few of those required … Read more
It’s impossible not to notice the connection between Crista Cardillo and Kim Stegmaier, MD. The way they laugh and swap stories might make you think they grew up down the street from one another. But their friendship began differently than most: as patient and oncologist at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. When Cardillo … Read more
This post originally appeared on Discoveries, the blog of Boston Children’s Hospital. Eva Quiroz loves horses. The 10 year old takes riding lessons, and this activity puts a smile on her face. Anyone watching her contentedly guiding a horse around the ring would just assume she has always been a healthy child, says her mom … Read more
In golf, the best shot isn’t always the one that goes the furthest. Sometimes, a golfer should “lay up,” or play conservatively. Exchanging power for precision and avoiding potential hazards can set them up for what’s next. Avid golfer Evan Cornelius, 20, understands this better than most. So when it came time for him to … Read more
Watching her deftly maneuver a playground with a huge smile on her face makes it hard to imagine that Anabella Trillo, 3, once faced challenges far greater than a jungle gym. In fact, she has already endured surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and a stem cell transplant for one of the most aggressive pediatric cancers: a malignant … Read more
This post originally appeared on Discoveries, the blog of Boston Children’s Hospital. A drug used for rheumatoid arthritis has moved a step closer to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a desperately needed new use. The drug, abatacept, has gained FDA breakthrough therapy designation for preventing acute, severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in patients receiving bone … Read more
Ali Mercy was an eight-year-old with relapsed acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in need of a stem cell transplant. First, however, his father Abrahim had to find a country willing to provide Ali with the life-saving procedure. Transplants were not performed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where Abrahim and Ali lived together in the city … Read more
Medically reviewed by Katherine A. Janeway, MD Cancer affecting the bones may be primary (a cancer that develops within the bone) or metastatic (spreading to bones from elsewhere in the body). Many primary bone tumors are benign (noncancerous), but others are malignant. Treatment options for bone tumors include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, cryosurgery (freezing cancer … Read more
Medically reviewed by Rachael Grace, MD In the mid-1960s, David G. Nathan, MD, president emeritus of Dana-Farber and, at that time, a hematologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, published some of the first reports on a rare, inherited type of anemia caused by the breakdown of red blood cells because of a lack of a key … Read more
This article originally appeared on Discoveries, the blog of Boston Children’s Hospital. No one knew the heartache about to unfold when Savannah and Brett Lillywhite first began thinking about having a family 10 years ago. The Lillywhites Savannah and Brett are both the unlikely carriers of a rare condition called Shwachman-Diamond syndrome — SDS for short — … Read more
At just 14 years old, Kaitlyn Vu was asked to accept a drastic, life-altering surgery. In early 2019, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma — a rare type of bone cancer that ultimately led to the amputation of her left foot. Kaitlyn’s ability to meet each challenge of her diagnosis with a combination of grace and … Read more