By Lyndsay McCaffery Two months. That’s how long I knew I had cancer before it was gone. I was a patient, and then a survivor, all before I had time to process what was happening to me. It has been almost five years and I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I’m … Read more
Soft tissue sarcoma refers to cancer that begins in the muscle, fat, fibrous tissue, blood vessels, or other supporting tissue of the body. View the slideshow below to learn more about signs and symptoms of this cancer, as well as risk factors. Learn more from Dana-Farber's Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology Learn more from … Read more
By Mary Anne Oldford I was born to survive. Before I was born, I almost lost my life when my mother had a fibroid tumor surgically removed while I was still in the womb. Later, as a 5-year-old, I was diagnosed with polio, paralyzed, and told I would never walk again. After years of therapy in … Read more
Ewing sarcoma is a cancer that grows in the bones and soft tissues, usually in the thigh or pelvis. It is most common in children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 20, and more common in boys than girls. Although most patients are teenagers, Ewing sarcoma can sometimes occur in older adults … Read more
Twenty-year-old Amanda Lee has always wanted to be a nurse. But after a life-changing diagnosis in 2012, Lee suddenly had a more personal motivation to pursue her career goals. After seeing her primary care doctor for pain in her lower back, doctors determined Lee had a tumor that was causing internal bleeding. Lee, then 17, … Read more
Cancers known as sarcomas develop in the connective tissues, such as muscle, fat, and bone, that hold the body together. The type of sarcoma called liposarcoma originates in fat cells that have been driven by random DNA errors into malignant growth, forming tumors. George Demetri, MD, director of Dana-Farber’s Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology, … Read more
If your son or daughter has been diagnosed with a type of sarcoma – a tumor in connective tissue like muscles or bones – there are many questions: Will my child make a full recovery? What are the immediate and long-term side effects of treatment? Most parents don’t consider whether their child will face a … Read more
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
Big ideas are all around us. They pop into our heads when we least expect it and consume our minds until we take steps to make them happen. That’s how research begins, continues, and evolves. At Dana-Farber, scientists are attacking cancer at every level. Researchers go through a continuous cycle of experimentation to see the … Read more
Cold plunges, the act of immersing the body in cold water for therapeutic benefit, have been used for centuries — from vinterbading in Scandinavia (swimming in cold water during winter months) to misogi in Japan (a Shinto practice of purifying the body under a cold or icy waterfall) to ice baths in the United States … Read more
RAS is an oncogene, which is a gene that when mutated causes cancer. RAS — an abbreviation for rat sarcoma — is the most commonly mutated oncogene in human cancer. RAS mutations are found in 20% of all cancers and account for an estimated 260,000 cases per year in the U.S. and 3.4 million cases … 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
Patti Keenan was a senior in high school before learning that the mysterious disease she was treated for twice as a young girl in the 60s was, in fact, a rare form of cancer. Her parents, not wanting to frighten Patti at a time when pediatric cancer survival rates were much lower, kept their daughter’s … 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
Over the past three decades, the number of cancer survivors has increased. That trend is expected to continue. The numbers indicate progress in the treatment of cancer, but they also underscore the importance of quality of life after cancer. “We want people to lead healthy, productive, enjoyable lives, and mobility is such an important piece … Read more
A recent study found that women who frequently use chemical hair straighteners and relaxers could have a higher risk of developing uterine cancer than those who have not used the products. The study, which tracked 34,000 women nationwide for more than a decade, comes at a time when uterine cancer rates in women are increasing, … 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
Of all the mutated, blundering, havoc-wreaking genes in cancer cells, few are more ubiquitous than TP53. The gene, which in its normal, capable form is nicknamed the “guardian of the genome,” is found in a flawed form in almost every type of cancer, including up to half of all lung, ovarian, and colorectal cancers and … Read more
Among the most memorable on-air guests during the first WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon — a live, 36-hour broadcast held each summer to benefit Dana-Farber patient care and research — was Todd Schwartz, a 19-year-old patient in Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic. Here, Todd’s mother, Janet Schwartz, reflects on her son’s appearance that day in 2002, his … 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