The language used to talk about cancer often focuses on battle words – those who are cured “won” or “survived,” while those who die from cancer “lost” their “fight.” But is cancer really something to be won or lost? Young adults with cancer discussed these phrases and others during the recent Young Adult Cancer Conference … Read more
Cancer comes with significant stress and anxiety for patients and their loved ones, which can make managing treatment even more difficult. Recently, Karen Fasciano, PsyD, clinical psychiatrist at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, joined four patients to discuss their experiences. “Often when we tell ourselves we can’t feel anxious, the anxiety gets bigger,” said Fasciano, … Read more
Young women may think about having children, but when diagnosed with breast cancer, patients often face these decisions long before they thought they would have to. For Maggie Loucks, NP-C, who was diagnosed at age 28, preserving fertility became a major factor in deciding what treatment plan to pursue. “You’re 28-years old and you want to … Read more
Young adults often have their sights set on the future, anticipating college, working at their dream job, or traveling. One place they don’t plan to be is in an infusion chair undergoing cancer treatment. Cancer disrupts everyone, but especially adults age 18-34 who are growing into adulthood and starting careers and families. The Young Adult … Read more
One of the most difficult aspects of having cancer is deciding who to tell and when. For young adults who may be attending college, maintaining an active social life, or starting a family, these questions are especially critical. Karen Fasciano, PsyD, and her colleagues in the Young Adult Program at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center … Read more
Testicular cancer, which is most often diagnosed in men between the ages of 20 and 34, often creates major concerns about fertility and sexuality for people of all ages. While treatment will require removal of the affected testicle, someone can still retain full sexual function after surgery. Likewise, while treatment can affect fertility, there are … Read more
For anyone who’s been out of circulation for a while, re-entering the world of dating can be awkward. It’s extra-challenging for cancer survivors. “Concerns about when to disclose health status, and the feeling that they don’t know how to deal with these questions, make dating relationships more difficult for cancer survivors,” says Karen Fasciano, PsyD., … Read more
Ben O’Clair was a college senior studying for finals when he first felt the twinges of pain in his side. A day later, the 21-year-old was in a hospital learning he had cancer. He left school immediately, moved back to his mother’s house in Holliston, Mass., and began arduous chemotherapy treatments at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s … Read more
Dana-Farber researcher Charles Stiles, PhD, remembers the call. It was 2008 and a colleague phoned from a conference to deliver the news. Two separate research teams had discovered a genetic driver for the most common of childhood brain tumors called pediatric low-grade glioma. The problem of finding a genetic target to improve treatment for this … Read more
Simone Ledward-Boseman has many roles: She’s a writer, artist, and singer. And for some time, she was a caregiver to her late husband, Chadwick Boseman, the actor known for playing Black Panther and groundbreaking figures like James Brown and Jackie Robinson. These days, Ledward-Boseman has added more titles to her list: activist and advocate. “I’m … Read more
Dana-Farber researchers have found that a transcription factor called SOX17 gives colon cancer a safe space to develop.
Lung cancer is on the rise in young people, particularly those who are assigned female at birth (AFAB).
A frequent component of treatment for breast cancer is surgery to remove the cancer. While mastectomy was more common in decades past, experts at Dana-Farber want you to know that science and treatment have advanced. Improved screening, early diagnosis, and advances in medicine are enabling many more patients to have the option of breast-conserving surgery, … Read more
What is NUT carcinoma? NUT carcinoma, formerly known as NUT-midline carcinoma, is a rare but very aggressive cancer that can develop anywhere in the body but usually starts in the head, neck, and lungs. It’s a squamous cell cancer — meaning it begins in squamous cells, which line hollow organs such as the windpipe and … 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
By Julia Segovia By the time I found out that my mother, Melbey Segovia, had stage III ovarian cancer, she had already had a hysterectomy and started chemotherapy. It was three months after her Feb. 2016 diagnosis. At first I felt a lot of anger around Mom not telling me sooner, but then I understood … Read more
A new fad has emerged: the full-body MRI scan. The interest in this high-tech health diagnostic comes from the notion that the scan can catch health issues, including cancer, early. With a price tag of $2,000 to $2,500, they aren’t an option for many people, and they are not covered by health insurance. But are … 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
Doug Kroc taught social studies for 40 years, but these days the retiree is more interested in making history than teaching it. Not the kind of events found in textbooks, but simple moments spent swimming and kayaking with his family or riding his bike along the backroads of Vermont. So when Kroc, 70, developed a … Read more
Both allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplants involve treating a patient with chemotherapy followed by an infusion of blood-forming stem cells, with a goal of curing the cancer or extending the time before the disease relapses. In adults, transplants are used to treat a range of blood-related cancers, myelodysplastic syndromes, and non-malignant blood disorders. Autologous … Read more