Immunotherapy drugs can be more effective against cancer when combined with other therapies, such as radiation therapy, targeted drugs, immunotherapy agents, and with chemotherapy. What is chemotherapy? Chemotherapy drugs have been used for decades to treat cancer, either alone or in combination therapies. These drugs kill rapidly dividing cells, including tumor cells, using a variety of mechanisms. … Read more
The human genome is a sequence of Ts, Gs, Cs, and As that is about 3 billion letters long. And, says Bradley Bernstein, MD, PhD, chair of Dana-Farber’s Department of Cancer Biology, “there’s no dictionary or guide for reading it.” Bernstein is trying to make such a resource. The efforts so far, carried out by … Read more
In recent decades, rates of some cancers, such as colorectal cancer, have been rising in young adults under the age of 50. One possible explanation for this rise is a parallel rise in obesity rates and changes in diet, activity levels and lifestyle. However, says Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, director of Dana-Farber’s Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer … Read more
People with Lynch syndrome have an elevated risk of developing colon cancer and several other cancers. For example, someone without the inherited condition has about a 5% chance of developing colon cancer. But for someone with Lynch syndrome, it could be anywhere from 22% to 74%. What if there were a way to reduce the … Read more
The Scragg family always knew it was a possibility, but it still came as a shock. It was August 2021, and Mark Scragg, then 33, was undergoing treatment for stage 4 stomach cancer. After just three months of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, scans showed no sign of the tumor first discovered in his stomach that spring … Read more
Zip codes didn’t exist until 1963 and were established to help speed the delivery of mail. Today, we rely much less on paper mail but strangely, zip codes play a bigger role. They define our neighborhoods, which define our schools, food stores, health centers, even our risk of cancer. There are many factors that influence … Read more
After treatment for early-stage breast cancer, patients are eager to get back to their normal lives. Most, however, are prescribed five or more years of hormone therapy, such as estrogen-blocking medicines, to help keep the cancer from coming back. These medicines can cause menopause-like symptoms even in people who are decades away from menopause. Symptoms … Read more
When Shirley Joseph met her future husband, Mike Joseph, on the set of one of her music videos in 2021, she had already proven herself as a tenacious entrepreneur. When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the music industry to a halt a year prior and ended talks between Shirley and a major record label, she turned … Read more
Overall survival of breast cancer has improved for everyone in the U.S. in recent years, but the pace isn’t the same for all groups of people. Some groups still experience dramatic disparities. For example, according to the American Cancer Society: Dana-Farber wants to close these gaps so that everyone benefits equally from high-quality care and … Read more
When Sandra Noack returned home from a visit to Bogota, Colombia, to visit her family, there was a letter waiting for her. It was a leaflet sent via the Massachusetts Department of Public Health describing a clinical trial at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for Latina and Hispanic breast cancer survivors. The trial didn’t involve any medicine. … Read more
When Meghan MacDonald visited her primary care provider in the fall of 2022 to get a lump in her breast examined, they confirmed her suspicion that it was just an inflamed cyst. Relieved, MacDonald began a course of antibiotics, but when the lump didn’t go away, her doctor ordered a mammogram, and when the results … Read more
Lung cancer is on the rise in young people, particularly those who are assigned female at birth (AFAB).
As Chen Wen Ye nears five years of being cancer-free, Chen has committed herself to helping others facing such issues.
Research by Dana-Farber scientists shows cancer cells can use the TREX1 protein to silence genes that might summon an immune system attack on the cells.
As a veteran scuba diver who has donned her wetsuit around the globe, Stephanie Lafontaine is never more at peace than when deep below the water’s surface. Even if she’s sharing the depths with sharks, she considers it her happy place. So when Lafontaine, 42, learned in April 2019 that she had inflammatory breast cancer … Read more
Treatments used for many forms of cancer, as well as certain rare types of cancer that directly affect the ear(s), can affect your hearing. It’s important to understand the possibilities and know what to look for because, in some cases, early action can help. If you are affected by hearing loss, there are also resources … Read more
Anal cancer is a highly preventable type of cancer given its connection to human papillomavirus (HPV), a group of 150 related viruses that infect the surface of the skin, which can include the genitals, anus, mouth and throat. The majority of anal squamous cancers (the most common form of anal cancer which affects the cells … Read more
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
Pancreatic cancer often eludes early detection because symptoms typically don’t surface until the disease is well established. This makes it important to respond appropriately to warning signs, even though some may be vague or caused by another health condition. What are the symptoms of pancreatic cancer? Most symptoms of pancreatic cancer are caused when tumors … Read more
Although hemorrhoids and colon cancer share certain symptoms, such as rectal bleeding, they are very different conditions. People who experience symptoms of either should get evaluated by a physician: while hemorrhoids are far more common than colon cancer, an exam is necessary to determine which one, if either, a patient has and how it should … Read more