More than 60,000 new cases of adult leukemia are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Although it is one of the more common childhood cancers, leukemia occurs more often in older adults. How does leukemia develop in adults? Leukemia is a cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues that results in large numbers of abnormal or immature white blood … Read more
Normal human cells need just the right amount of oxygen — not too much nor too little — to survive and stay healthy. This critical balance is regulated by an intricate oxygen-sensing process in the body, the discovery of which earned the 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine shared by Dana-Farber scientist William G. Kaelin, Jr., … 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
In early 2019, Jess Skyleson found herself in a situation she never imagined she’d ever be in: telling a group of people what hope means to her. Less than a year ago, as she waded through her own cancer diagnosis, the idea of hope was the last thing Skyleson wanted to discuss. In 2018, she … Read more
It lacks sunsets and skylines, but Maddie Carlson loves the view from her dorm room at Emmanuel College in Boston. If the 20-year-old junior sticks her head out the window at just the right angle, she can almost make out a portion of the place she credits for saving her life after she was diagnosed … Read more
It’s easy to spot Richard “Dick” Welchons’s car in the parking lot: the 90-year old drives a 2016 bright yellow Camaro, his third version of the high-powered muscle car. He has no plan to give it up any time soon — especially after doctors spotted something suspicious on his left foot in 2014, momentarily forcing … Read more
Got an itch that just won’t go away? Also known as pruritus (proo-rai-tuhs), itchy skin can have a wide variety of causes, including seasonal allergies and dry skin; various skin conditions, such as eczema; and even certain detergents and lotions. The good news is that itchy skin is typically not a sign of cancer. This … Read more
Bone marrow transplantation, which was first developed in the 1970s, was conceived as a way of dealing with the effects of high-dose chemotherapy for leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood-related diseases. The large doses killed diseased blood cells throughout the body but also destroyed the bone marrow, birthplace of new blood cells. By transplanting bone marrow … Read more
Medically reviewed by Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc Chemoimmunotherapy combined with a targeted drug given for two years has achieved undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD) for a high proportion of younger patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), Dana-Farber scientists report. The phase 2 clinical trial results are so favorable that they represent a step toward “a … Read more
Medically reviewed by Lewis Silverman, MD A greater understanding of the genomics of pediatric leukemia — the genetic errors and irregularities that underlie the disease — has enabled researchers to divide the disease into additional subtypes. This has improved physicians’ ability to identify patients with an increased risk of relapse and to prescribe treatments to … Read more
Medically reviewed by F. Stephen Hodi, MD Melanoma is a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer that originates in melanocytes, the cells that create pigment (melanin) to protect us from ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Melanoma is categorized into one of three subtypes, depending on its location: Cutaneous melanoma: Melanoma of the skin. Common affected areas … Read more
Medically reviewed by Patrick Ott, MD, PhD There are a lot of concerns about the potential risks of vaccines, including fears that vaccines can cause autism, can infect the recipient with the disease the vaccine is designed to prevent, and are generally unsafe. Rest assured: Vaccination is one of the most convenient and safest preventative … Read more
Chemotherapy has been the backbone of treatment for both untreated and relapsed/refractory (R/R) classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). But treatment paradigms for cHL are changing. Immunotherapies that unmask cancer cells and make them vulnerable to our immune system, called immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), were recently approved for relapsed and refractory cHL. Examples include PD-1 inhibitors such … Read more
If you have had a biopsy or surgery that removes tissue from your body, in almost all cases a sample will be sent to a pathology lab for examination. Pathologists, who specialize in looking at microscopic tissue samples, will look for signs of disease. Their findings will be detailed in a pathology report. The first … Read more
Like ambitious cartographers bent on mapping entire countries down to their individual houses, scientists are using state-of-the-art methods to create two mammoth atlases — one aimed at mapping human cells of every type, and the other a 3D atlas of every molecular feature of cancer as it develops, spreads, and responds to treatment. The Human … Read more
Medically reviewed by Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, MD, MPH Colorectal cancer forms in the tissues of the colon or rectum, which make up the large intestine. The colon and rectum are part of the body’s digestive system, which is made up of the esophagus, stomach, and the small and large intestines. The first six feet of … Read more
What is metastatic breast cancer? Metastatic breast cancer (also referred to as advanced stage or stage IV breast cancer) is breast cancer that has spread (or metastasized) from the breast and adjacent lymph nodes to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, bones, brain, or liver. Why does breast cancer spread? Breast cancer … Read more
Lymphoma comes from a type of immune cell called a lymphocyte, which is important in helping your body fight infection. The two main types of lymphocytes are B lymphocytes (B-cell) and T lymphocytes (T-cell), and each has a slightly different function in the immune system. Each can also give rise to different lymphomas. Although they … Read more
Medically reviewed by Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, and Rizwan Romee, MD Immune cells called natural killer (NK) cells are a key arm of the body’s defenses against infections and cancers, but what provokes them into action is less well understood than some other immune components such as T cells. “Critical gaps in our knowledge regarding … Read more
Many of the drugs that have become mainstays of cancer treatment are based on antibodies — artificial proteins that latch onto a molecular target called an antigen. When an antibody binds to an antigen on a cancer cell, it attacks the cell or triggers its destruction by immune system process. A relatively new twist on … Read more