Just like genetic and lifestyle factors, the composition of breasts can affect a person’s risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime. Although it’s not yet known why, people with dense breasts have a higher risk for breast cancer. Breast density is a measure of how much glandular and fibrous tissue there is in the … Read more
Over the last decade, significant strides have been made in understanding the molecular underpinnings of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in adults, which has led to better drugs and better treatment outcomes for patients. This shifting landscape now makes it possible for cancer researchers and providers to ask, “How can we do better?” Dana-Farber medical oncologist … Read more
Ann-Margaret Ferrante likes a good fight. The daughter and granddaughter of Gloucester, Mass. fishermen has long devoted herself to helping those in and around her hardy hometown, first as a lawyer, and since 2009 as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. For the last three years, however, Ferrante has had to balance her … Read more
Between 2000 and 2021, breast cancer rates in people under 50 of Asian or Pacific Islander decent rose by nearly 50%, from 36 to 55 cases per 100,000, with sharper increases between 2020 and 2021. Rates of breast cancer in young people are known to be rising in general, but this rate increase, according to … Read more
A recent analysis of pancreatic cancer statistics in the United States has found that the incidence of pancreatic cancer is increasing faster in younger adults than among older adults. Though this finding is cause for further investigation, the incidence overall remains low. “This is still a rare cancer in young people,” says Asaf Maoz, MD, … Read more
Dana-Farber’s Centers for Early Detection and Interception, founded in 2023, aim to detect cancer early, when there is a greater chance of treating and curing that cancer. The Centers also serve as a hub for research, with investigators seeking to better understand cancer risk and how it can be reduced. “Dana-Farber has always been the … Read more
Clinicians and researchers have recognized a disturbing trend in recent years: colorectal cancer (CRC) in young people is skyrocketing. In individuals under the age of 50, the incidence of CRC has increased about 2% each year since the 1990s, and, according to the American Cancer Society, is now the leading cause of death in males … Read more
Tumors are experts at dodging the immune system. This evasion not only helps to ensure their survival, but also has important implications for treatment. That’s because cancer therapies that harness the immune system, such as CAR T-cells or other engineered immune cells, are often rendered ineffective by the milieu that surrounds a tumor — known … Read more
The genetic landscape of prostate cancer susceptibility in Africa is, like the continent itself, a picture of sweeping diversity, the largest study of the phenomenon concludes. The findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, are an important step in unravelling why prostate cancer rates are highest in men of African descent, whether they live in … Read more
Six years ago, Ina Kornetsky was looking forward to a new chapter in her life. The lifelong teacher had most recently worked with older adults before retiring, and she had a deep understanding of the kind of life she wanted as she approached 90. She was preparing to move from Stoughton, Mass. into a continuing … Read more
Elizabeth Johnston, then 37, was healthy and busy with two young children and a blossoming career running a public relations firm in Connecticut. One of her clients is the Hartford Marathon Foundation and in 2015, she decided to start running smaller stretches herself. “I was in the best shape of my life,” Johnston recalls. Little … Read more
As we age, we may turn down the volume on our music and dial down the number of late nights, but deep inside our bodies, expression levels of a gene called midkine are ratcheting upward. This uptick appears to have impact on our health. New work from the Dana-Farber lab of breast cancer researcher Kornelia … Read more
On the surface of every cell are receptors that interact with the cellular world around them. These receptors play a variety of roles. The transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), for instance, pulls iron into the cell for fuel. It does so rapidly and continuously, as if it were a child spinning in a revolving door. Approximately … Read more
In the family of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) proteins, CDK5 always seemed to be a misfit. Despite being structurally similar to other CDKs, and despite the “cyclin” in its name, it did not participate in the family business of ushering cells through the cycle of growth and division. Or so scientists thought, and textbooks said. In … Read more
Andrew Ciardelli’s annual brothers’ hunting trip in Idaho took a turn for the worse when the stomach issues he had lived with for years suddenly became unbearable. Years before the trip, a urologist told Ciardelli that the cause of his pain and the blood in his stool was hemorrhoids. “They told me as long as … Read more
When Michael Koran, 83, came to Dana-Farber for a recurrence of sinus cancer, he received unwelcome news — the cancer was no longer treatable. The focus of Koran’s care then shifted to managing his symptoms and finding ways to cope with the emotions he was experiencing. Koran’s care team offered him expressive arts therapy. “They … Read more
Naomi Dogan, PhD, still remembers a visit to the hospital earlier this year for blood work, after joining a clinical trial for patients incurring symptoms related to polycythemia vera — one of a group of rare blood disorders known as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). In a far corner of the large room a machine quietly hummed … Read more
Scott Menta describes himself as someone who “likes to stay on top of my health.” So, when he read about a new test that screens for cancer based on tumor cell DNA within the blood, he sprang for the cost of two tests — one for him and one for his wife. His wife’s test … Read more
In 2016, the key to naturally deconstructing plastic seemed to have been found. News had broken about plastic-eating bacteria discovered in Japan. The bacterium contains a protein that can break down plastic, a pollutant that is linked to health issues including cancer. Since then, protein engineers have been trying to give that protein superpowers not … Read more
Andrew Combes was early for his first appointment at Dana-Farber. He had traveled all the way from Tiny, Ontario, in Canada, and was eager to be seen to get a second opinion on his diagnosis of Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. To pass the time on this beautiful mid-October day, he meandered … Read more