At work on the afternoon of December 27, 2018, Chris Barnett felt his eyes lock momentarily onto the wall. Thinking he was just tired, he stood up to go get a sandwich. The next thing he knew, he couldn’t move and fell straight to the floor, and felt frozen in his own body, “like somebody pulled the … Read more
When John Ferris was first diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in early 2017, he was told he had six to nine months to live. Later, while undergoing treatment that appeared to be halting his cancer, he received an amended diagnosis. “Cancer is not going to kill you, but your drinking could,” his oncologist told Ferris. “We … Read more
Patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) who did not respond to initial treatment or relapsed within a year may now receive the CAR T-cell product axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) as a second-line therapy, following approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) based on results of a recent clinical trial. Until now, the standard of … Read more
As an economist specializing in statistical analysis, Dan Rosenbaum has done everything from help the federal government use more evidence in its decision-making to assist several National Basketball Association (NBA) teams in finding and signing the best players. Research and number-crunching are his expertise, so when Rosenbaum learned he needed a life-saving stem cell transplant … Read more
For as long as researchers have known about disparities in cancer treatment, they’ve sought to explain them. Do some patients receive different care than others because of race, age, wealth, or gender? Or does the region where they receive treatment matter most? Only by answering questions like these can researchers know where to focus their … 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
Cancer is a disease that’s often associated with older people; however, a growing number of younger patients are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Since the 1990s, the rate of colorectal cancer diagnoses has more than doubled in adults age 20 to 49. Alexa Morell is one of these patients. She didn’t expect her diagnosis: metastatic … Read more
Like many people, Caroline McGuirk knew that lumps can be a symptom of breast cancer, even if most of them end up being noncancerous. What she wasn’t aware of is that the redness and swelling she had noticed in her right breast months before finding two lumps there can be indicators of inflammatory breast cancer … Read more
For Duane Witter, the most difficult part of his cancer treatment was recovering from his stem cell transplant and having to step away from teaching and coaching high school basketball in Farmington, CT. “Before all this, I used to say that my superpower was to never miss a day of school,” he says. “Stepping away … Read more
Tom McLaughlin would have rather spent Thanksgiving week at home with his extended family, but under the circumstances the 76-year-old grandfather said he was very happy where he was — and still had much to be thankful for. On November 23, McLaughlin became the 100th patient to receive an outpatient stem cell transplant at Dana-Farber … Read more
Dana-Farber lymphoma patient John Babchak has a unique perspective on his treatment journey. More than two decades ago, in 2004, his late husband Richard Walsh was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. For the next five years, Babchak stepped into the role of caregiver, spending as much time with Richard as he could. “The most valuable thing … Read more
No one enjoys a gallbladder attack, but Karen Howley LaCamera is glad hers came when it did. Had sharp abdominal pains not sent her to the emergency room in February 2018, it may have been much longer before doctors discovered another major problem silently growing inside her: stage III ovarian cancer. “I think about that … Read more
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
It took Abbey Bergman a while to transform her longtime passion into a profession — but once she did, it was instrumental in helping her through her greatest challenge. Bergman, a fitness instructor who thrives on pushing clients to be their best, focused that same approach inward after being diagnosed with stage IV head and … Read more
In December 2013, Michelle Leonard wasn’t too concerned when she felt a pain in her right chest. “I kind of thought, ‘Well at least it’s the right side, not a big deal,’” she says. But then she developed a fever and decided to go to her primary care physician. Her nurse practitioner sent her for … Read more
As head of marketing for a leading international news agency, Kelly Ives routinely worked with journalists across the globe. When it came to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), however, it was her own reporting skills that led Ives to a life-changing treatment. Ives was a 37-year-old mom with a career and three young children, including an … Read more
The first time they met, in the break room at work, Raunada Bryant remembers struggling with her heavy Southern accent to pronounce Kristen Donoghue’s first name. Giving up with a laugh, she took to calling her new colleague “K” — not knowing the critical role they would soon play in each other’s lives. Donoghue was … Read more
When Michael Voisine went to the doctor in 2017, he had just one symptom: a burning sensation on his skin, right around the corner of his stomach. After a CAT scan, he was rushed into the operating room for an emergency appendectomy. But doctors found more than just an inflamed appendix: They also discovered an … Read more
When Minnesota native Charles “Woody” Hubbell went to college, he thought his biggest hurdle would be the culture shock of attending an east coast school that he had never visited in person. But his freshman year, he fell completely in love with the Boston College community and his friends as he pursued a major in … Read more
Michael Tichnor still wonders what might have happened if his primary care physician did not ask him one last question during his annual physical two years ago: “Is there anything else you want to tell me?” Until that moment, Tichnor, then 66, had no plans to mention the pebble-sized bump he accidentally discovered on his … Read more