Recent Articles

Donating Her Blood Stem Cells to Patient is a No-Brainer for Dana-Farber Staffer 

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The call from the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) seemed to come from out of nowhere, but it bore some hopeful news: Dana-Farber senior project manager Alexandria Monteiro’s stem cells were a match for a stranger with leukemia who needed a stem cell transplant.  “I don’t remember signing up,” Monteiro admits, “but based on who I know myself to be,” she continues, “it does sound like something I would have done.”  … Read more

What You Need to Know About Fiber and Cancer Risk

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Feeling constipated? You may not be getting enough fiber in your diet.   Fiber-rich diets are a key component to preventing and reducing constipation and can help you maintain a healthy gut. Dietary fiber offers many health benefits from reducing chronic diseases like diabetes to lowering your risk of some types of cancer, such as colorectal cancer.  Fiber is an undigested nutrient that passes through the body when you consume fruits, vegetables, … Read more

Do Viruses Cause Cancer?

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Whether it may be genetic or environmental, there are many factors that can lead to cancer. One of these factors could be infections, which can be caused by bacteria, fungi, and/or viruses.   Viruses insert themselves inside our bodies and alter our otherwise functioning genes, making us sick. Viruses can only thrive when they infect a … Read more

Early Detection at Dana-Farber Helps Patient Avoid Unnecessary Treatment 

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In February 2024, while being treated for pneumonia, doctors noticed that Rebecca Santorelli’s spleen was enlarged.  “No one was concerned at first,” recalls Santorelli, 61, who lives outside of Albany, New York.   Doctors estimate spleen size with fingerbreadths — or approximate widths of a finger — below the rib cage, with normal being about zero. … Read more

Dana-Farber Research Opens the Door to Finding More Effective Treatments for Ewing Sarcoma 

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In 2014, Dana-Farber pediatric oncologist Brian Crompton, MD, discovered that a gene called STAG2 is mutated in about 15 percent of patients with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer that largely occurs in children and adolescents. Now, that molecular insight could hold the keys to advancing treatment for the disease.   New research led by senior authors Crompton and pediatric oncologist Katherine Janeway, MD, Dana-Farber Pediatric Oncology Section Chief and Chair of the Children’s … Read more

Pediatric Neuroblastoma and Osteosarcoma Survivor Charts Course to Medical School 

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The walk is a little different each day, sometimes a twisting, turning path through the various side streets of Boston’s Longwood Medical Area, and on other occasions more of a straight line down bustling thoroughfares.   One thing, though, remains consistent: no matter which route Paris Prinsen, 21, takes from her apartment to classes at the … Read more

A Teacher’s Troll Helps Her Through Triple-Negative Breast Cancer 

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By Jennifer Peters  On April 23, 2024, my life jumped onto a conveyor belt I never saw coming — one that would race me through numerous exam rooms, tests, and heartfelt conversations. The diagnosis? Triple-negative breast cancer. I’d never even heard of it. I thought breast cancer was all the same. Boy, was I wrong.  But even in that first shocking moment, I knew one thing: I wasn’t going to do … Read more

Creating a Journey with the Unknown: A Dana-Farber Physician-Scientist Story   

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What makes us humans lies in our genes. But even with all their power, they are remarkably vulnerable to errors.   But these potentially harmful errors are an opportunity for humankind to study and treat, as it has been for Dana-Farber’s physician-scientist Srinivas Viswanathan, MD, PhD.   “We have the ability to make an impact,” Viswanathan said. “There are so many unanswered questions in cancer biology still, especially in our understanding of rarer subtypes of kidney cancer.”   One of these subtypes — called translocation renal cell carcinoma (tRCC) — occurs when a gene quietly moves, fuses with another gene, and … Read more

Three Recent Dana-Farber Research Studies to Know About  

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Every year, physician researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reveal new treatments, protocols, and outcomes that advance cancer research. At one of this year’s biggest cancer research conferences, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Berlin, Germany, Dana-Farber researchers presented 22 studies in breast, lung, and bladder cancer.  Here are three of the most exciting advancements — several nearing U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval — shared by our experts nearly 4,000 miles across the world.  An oral therapy for advanced breast cancer   Erica Mayer, MD, MPH, director … Read more

Forcing Cancer to Grow Up: Dana-Farber Scientists Reprogram Tumors to Behave Normally  

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Cancer can make its way through the body by shapeshifting through even the narrowest places, like a skilled driver navigating traffic. It has a sly way of adapting to its environment by finding detours around every blockade clinicians place in its path.   A study from the lab of Nilay Sethi, MD, PhD, in Dana-Farber’s Center … Read more

Three Ways Research Could Improve Pancreatic Cancer Treatment 

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Pancreatic cancer has long been difficult to detect and treat. Dana-Farber experts in the  Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, however, are working to change that with research efforts in three key areas that are poised to advance early detection, early intervention, and treatment of the disease.   They presented these topics for discussion with … Read more

Teen Survivor of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Aims High After Stem Cell Transplant  

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Nolan Young has aspirations of a career in both the Air Force and FBI, and even at age 15 it’s easy to imagine him achieving these goals. After all, when you’ve already endured the rigors of chemotherapy, radiation, emergency surgeries, and a stem cell transplant for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) — all before high … Read more

Helping Older Adults with Cancer

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Tammy Hshieh, MD, MPH, is the lead geriatrician for geriatric oncology at Dana-Farber, working with the programs for Older Adults with Hematologic Malignancy, Older Adults with Breast Cancer, and Older Adults with Gastrointestinal Cancers. As a physician-scientist, her research focuses on promoting healthier aging and improving cognition and function as well as understanding and preventing … Read more

Teacher Returns to Education After a Whipple Procedure 

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Marsha Olsen’s grandmother always used to say, “You have one body, take good care of it.”  And for most of her life, Olsen has spread that message as a middle school physical education and health teacher instilling healthy habits in her students.   “I wanted all my students to have a positive experience in physical education, … Read more

Dana-Farber Research Uncovers Potential Targeted Therapy for Endometrial Cancer 

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Jessica St. Laurent, MD, was sure something had gone wrong. The results of an experiment she’d run showed that the cancer cells she was studying had abnormally high levels of a specific collection of proteins of interest to her team.  “I remember seeing the gradient and thinking, This can’t be right,” says St. Laurent, who … Read more