Anal cancer, which forms in tissues of the anus, the opening at the bottom of the rectum, is diagnosed in about 9,800 people each year in the United States, most often in older adults. It is more common in white women and Black men than other groups, and while it is a serious disease, it … Read more
The artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has wowed users with its seemingly human-like ability to generate and respond to language, and worried others by that very same ability. Like virtually every technological innovation that has come before — from the telephone to refrigeration to plastics — ChatGPT is sure to find uses in medicine. People are … Read more
As science and clinical medicine advance, oncologists increasingly face the challenge of information overload. It can be hard for oncologists, especially those in community practices who cover many cancers, to keep up with the influx of new therapies, biomarkers, and clinical trial results. The go-to solution has been the systematic review. Researchers team up to … Read more
Black men, particularly men of West African descent, are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than Caucasian men, and three times more likely than Asian men. They are also twice as likely as Caucasian men to die from the disease. These disparities are among the largest in cancer. What is driving … Read more
In 2022, the drug teclistamab became the first bispecific antibody to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Experts say the drug represents one of the most important advances in recent years against myeloma, a blood cancer diagnosed in more than 35,000 people in the United … Read more
For years, patients with advanced forms of gastric and esophageal cancer have had relatively few treatment options. Most patients with inoperable tumors would receive chemotherapy, usually a combination of fluorouracil, oxaliplatin and leucovorin (known as FOLFOX). While this regimen is often effective, patients eventually develop resistance to the treatment and their tumors progress. Now, the … Read more
The cell cycle is the series of steps by which living cells grow, duplicate their DNA, and divide into two identical daughter cells, each receiving one copy of the doubled material. The cycle is complete when each daughter cell is sealed in its own membrane, ready to start the cycle again. The cycle occurs in … Read more
In general, standard of care is treatment accepted by medical experts for a certain type of disease and that is widely used by healthcare professionals. It is also called best practice, standard medical care, and standard therapy. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology lay out the recognized standards for cancer … Read more
Just over a year after giving birth to her son, Emmett, Abigail Myers faced a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in March 2014. It started when Myers woke up one morning feeling sore. When she found a lump, she rushed to her doctor, all the while in disbelief that she might have cancer. A resident … Read more
A stem cell transplant is one of the most powerful tools doctors have for treating certain kinds of cancers and blood-related diseases. The “grafted” cells involved in a transplant are known as hematopoietic stem cells, meaning they’re able to develop into all types of blood cells — red blood cells, which deliver oxygen throughout the … Read more
When Chuck Stravin was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in 2015, one of his biggest fears was not living long enough to see his four young daughters get married. The disease later metastasized to his lungs as stage IV cancer, but thanks to groundbreaking clinical trials and a care team he considers family, Stravin is … Read more
Tom Lomaglio, Jr., learned he had a rare blood cancer called Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia (WM) in 2000. His father, Tom, Sr., had been diagnosed in 2004, and then his sister, Diane, in 2007. They were all referred to Dana-Farber for care. When Lomaglio visited the first time, he met Steven Treon, MD, PhD, director of the … Read more
Researchers in the late 1970s wanted to address challenges with a chemotherapy drug called floxuridine. It’s a form of chemotherapy invented in the 1950s that turns into its active form, 5-fluorouracil, or 5-FU, when metabolized. One challenge is that 5-FU has off-target effects, meaning it can damage healthy organs when given throughout the body. In … Read more
For many patients with lymphoma or multiple myeloma, a stem cell transplant with their own stem cells (an autologous transplant) or CAR T-cell therapy can extend life significantly or even cure the disease. A variety of factors influence which of these two treatments is recommended, including: What is the difference between stem cell transplant and … Read more
Langley Perer thought her breast cancer was in the rearview mirror. In 2017, she had received a shocking diagnosis at age 35 of ductal in situ carcinoma (DCIS), the earliest form of breast cancer. “As far as I knew, I had no family history of breast cancer,” she says. DCIS is sometimes referred to as … Read more
When Jennifer Fullerton was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29, her mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. “I thought I was going to die. That first day all I could think was ‘why me,’” Fullerton says. “My mom very poignantly told me, ‘Today you can say ‘why me,’ but tomorrow, ‘why not me’. And you … Read more
Brian Humberd firmly believes in an attitude of gratitude. The biotech recruiter from Melrose, Massachusetts remains eternally grateful to Dana-Farber medical oncologist David Fisher, MD, who not only recommended a life-saving stem cell transplant to treat his central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, but whose advice enabled Humberd to become a father after his cancer treatments. … Read more
Uterine cancer — also known as endometrial cancer — has traditionally been classified as endometrioid or non-endometrioid based on the appearance of the tumor cells under a microscope. Now, as scientists learn more about the molecular makeup of the disease, uterine cancers are increasingly identified by the specific genetic alterations within them. Endometrioid uterine tumors … Read more
The rectum is a six-inch-long portion of the large intestine, which is about five feet in length, but it is the starting point of about one-third of the 145,000 cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed in the United States each year. About 5% of people will develop rectal cancer at some point, and about 11% will … Read more
Logic said that drugs known as PARP inhibitors would work as well — and perhaps even better — in breast cancer marked by BRCA gene mutations than in ovarian cancer carrying the same abnormalities. Clinical results said otherwise. Patients with relapsed, BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer survive longer, overall, with PARP inhibitor treatment than any other therapy. … Read more