Technically speaking, a tyrosine kinase is an enzyme that transfers a compound called a phosphate group from ATP — a molecule that stores energy — to a specific area on cell proteins. It helps transmit the signals that cause cells to grow and divide and to perform specific functions in the body such as burning … Read more
Two major obstacles once stood in the way of exploring the basic biology of diffuse midline glioma in children. And one of them was the brain itself. The cancer, a subtype of high-grade glioma, forms in some of the most critical parts of the brain, in regions that control such basic functions as breathing, swallowing, … Read more
With its deep experience in studying the rare, often lethal cancer known as NUT carcinoma, Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center attracts patients and families, some from far away. Unfortunately, NUT carcinoma is so rapidly aggressive that “sometimes patients get to Dana-Farber and become too sick to proceed with treatment,” which speaks to the urgent need for … Read more
Like a fugitive from justice, cancer cells stake their survival on their ability to remain inconspicuous. In many cases, however, they are decked out in molecules – called tumor-associated antigens and neoantigens – that shout “cancer!” to the immune system and prompt a potent antitumor response. But tumor cells have other means of dodging an … Read more
The results of the phase 2 clinical trial would have been impressive even if they didn’t involve a particularly stubborn form of cancer. In the trial, led by Dana-Farber’s Jonathan Schoenfeld, MD, MPH, 29 patients with locally advanced squamous cell cancer of the oral cavity were treated with one or two immune checkpoint inhibitors — … Read more
Picture a floor strewn with broken crockery, hastily and haphazardly pieced back together, and you’ll have a sense of the chromosomal chaos inside many cancer cells. In a phenomenon known as chromothripsis, a chromosome or piece of chromosome shatters and reassembles almost randomly, mangling its genetic information. It’s a common feature of cancer cells, found … Read more
While some racial and ethnic groups have been underrepresented in clinical trials of therapies for lung cancer, breast cancer and other malignancies, researchers speculated that the situation might be different for adult leukemia trials. The unique features of the disease — the speed with which it needs to be treated after diagnosis, the delivery of … Read more
Even as science has removed all doubt about the link between environmental factors like tobacco smoke and lung cancer, the role of genetics in people’s risk of the disease has been much harder to pin down. A study by Dana-Farber investigators provides new evidence that, in people with lung cancer, genetic ancestry can influence the … Read more
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
Scientists are stepping up efforts to deploy natural killer (NK) cells — the body’s first responders against infected and malignant cells — to combat cancer. Treatment using NK cells from healthy donors has shown promise, but currently successes have been limited and the cells lack staying power in the body. While some researchers are working … Read more
CAR T cells’ superpower is to identify cancer-related targets on the surface of tumor cells and order an attack on those cells. But they lack anything resembling X-ray vision to detect nefarious protein targets within tumor cells. That shortfall has limited their effectiveness in diseases like acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), in which tumor cells display few surface … Read more
For many years, the human genome was viewed as a book of life in which sections of great eloquence and economy of expression were interspersed with vast stretches of gibberish. The legible sections contained the code for making cell proteins; the other regions, representing about 90% of the entire genome, were dismissed as “junk DNA,” … Read more
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
The cells in our body replicate themselves in a tightly regulated series of steps and molecular checkpoints that act as gatekeepers. A set of proteins called cell cycle kinases, including CDK1, CDK4, and CDK6, control various phases and timing of the process so that cells divide and replicate only when needed, and under strict control. … Read more
When a dam collapses because of a design flaw, tracing the error to the original blueprint is a relatively straightforward matter. When the breach happens for another reason — shoddy workmanship, insufficient oversight during construction, a failure to follow design specifications, or any of a range of other possibilities — the investigation can be much … Read more
This post was adapted from a Broad Institute post by Allessandra DiCorato. Over the last two decades, researchers have discovered thousands of genetic mutations in cancer. But understanding how they affect the growth and spread of tumors in the body remains challenging because each patient’s tumor can have many different mutations. Now, scientists have used … Read more
Treating advanced prostate cancer typically involves surgery — to reduce levels of testosterone, which fuels the growth of tumors — or giving drugs that blockade the androgen receptor (AR), which responds to testosterone by stimulating cancer-growth genes. While these measures can keep the disease at bay initially, resistance almost always occurs as the androgen receptor … Read more
At 28 years old, Dana-Farber bioinformatics analyst Carino Gurjao is already making a splash in the field of colorectal cancer research. He is coming off the back of a big year: The Paris-born researcher was named to Forbes Healthcare’s 2022 30 Under 30 list for his role in the Giannakis Lab at Dana-Farber, which identified … Read more
Approximately one in three children in the United States lives in a low-income home. For childhood cancer patients, living in a low-income home can have a significant impact: Poverty and associated factors are linked to poorer outcomes, even at large academic medical centers like Dana-Farber, according to research by Kira Bona, MD, MPH, a pediatric … Read more
People with disabilities that affect their mobility often face special challenges when diagnosed with cancer. Beyond logistical matters such as getting to and from medical appointments, they may be diagnosed with more advanced, harder-to-treat cancer than non-disabled individuals, making them more likely to die of their disease, research suggests. While most previous studies of these … Read more