Bispecific Antibody Therapy for Lymphoma: What You Need to Know   

Bispecific antibody therapies are a type of immunotherapy for patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These therapies provide a valuable new option for patients.  There are many standard therapies that are monoclonal antibodies. These therapies treat cancer by binding to a marker on cancer cells and rallying the immune system to destroy them.  Bispecific antibodies are … Read more

BCL2 Inhibitors: What’s the Latest Research?

BCL2 inhibitors are drugs that prompt cancer cells to die by altering the interactions among key proteins within the cells. They were clinically developed, in large part, by researchers at Dana-Farber and have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia … Read more

A Patient-Doctor Bond Forged in Fighting Follicular Lymphoma  

Throughout the 20 years Robert Jenkins has been living with follicular lymphoma, he has been through many different treatments — from traditional chemotherapy protocols to innovative approaches like CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies. His lengthy survivorship has allowed Jenkins to benefit from new advances as they’ve emerged, and along with his wife, Lorna, one … Read more

Multiple Myeloma Patient Shines Bright as CAR T-Cell Therapy Outpatient 

As a systems operator who works to help maintain the electrical grid for New York state, Brian Houlihan, 46, is used to getting power to the people. But when the multiple myeloma he has lived with since 2011 stopped responding to chemotherapy, it was Houlihan who needed a recharge.  He got it, through an innovative … Read more

What is Protein Degradation? 

Protein degradation is a natural process by which cells break down proteins that are damaged or no longer needed so they can be recycled or disposed of.  Scientists at Dana-Farber and elsewhere are harnessing this process to destroy specific proteins involved in cancer, an approach known as targeted protein degradation. In contrast to traditional targeted … Read more

Clinical Trials for Patients with Cancer 

Clinical trials are scientific studies in which new treatments — drugs, diagnostic procedures, and other therapies — are tested in people to find out if they are safe and effective. Nearly all cancer drugs in use today were tested in clinical trials.  If you have been diagnosed with cancer, the benefits of participating in a clinical … Read more

Cell Therapy Advances with Lift from Cell Manipulation Core Facility 

A recent phase 1 trial of a form of cellular gene therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD) conducted at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Hospital showed promise that led to an ongoing nationwide phase 2 initiative. Among the authors of the paper describing the results were six unsung heroes whose behind-the-scenes efforts made such a trial possible. Those unsung heroes … Read more

How Dana-Farber Investigators Seize Opportunities to Advance Medicine

Investigators who run investigator-initiated trials (IITs) have two essential qualities. One is curiosity, which keeps them alert, aware of discoveries, and able to make connections that lead to new treatment ideas.   The second is determination.   “The burden of responsibility for what is typically a many-year-long study falls on that one investigator,” says Ursula Matulonis, MD, … Read more

Can Less Treatment for Colorectal Cancer Yield the Same Results? 

Colon and rectal cancer combined are the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancers.  Eighty percent of patients are diagnosed at a stage of disease when treatment is given with curative-intent.  However, treatment can have both short- and long-term side effects that may impact quality of life.   To address these concerns, investigators at Dana-Farber have led clinical … Read more

Could AI Help Doctors Predict Pancreatic Cancer? 

As a cancer imaging fellow at Dana-Farber, Michael Rosenthal, MD, PhD, spent about two years working on a radiologist’s version of paint-by-number. Together with his colleagues, he annotated 687 computed tomography (CT) scans, manually differentiating skeletal muscle from fat tissue by labelling them with different colors.   The work was part of a 2018 project to … Read more

Follicular Lymphoma Patient Has Time On His Side After CAR T-Cell Therapy 

After nearly nine years of living with follicular lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), it took just a few minutes for things to change dramatically for Marc Cummings this spring.   That was all the time needed to transfer the small bag of modified CAR T-cells — which had been recrafted from Cummings’ own T … Read more