Archive for leukemia
Making ready-made CAR T cells for cancer immunotherapy
In CAR T-cell immunotherapy, T cells from a patient’s own blood are engineered to carry so-called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) that enable the T cells to attack and kill tumor cells. While CAR-T therapy is a powerful approach for certain leukemias and lymphomas, it’s not available for many patients who need it. It can be ... Read More
Exploiting a vulnerability in an aggressive leukemia
Survival has improved greatly in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). But a certain form of ALL that occurs mostly in babies is still very lethal, with a survival rate below 50 percent: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with rearrangements of the mixed lineage leukemia gene, or MLL B-ALL. “Something about the biology of this type ... Read More
Sickle cell disease, gene therapy, and blood cancers: Mysteries remain
Gene therapy trials for sickle cell disease have been showing great promise, even offering hope of a cure. But in early 2021, the trials ground to a halt after reports of blood malignancies in two people in a trial sponsored by bluebird bio. Investigations later concluded that the gene therapy delivery vectors were likely not ... Read More
Surviving stem cell transplant: New hope when the donor isn’t a full match
To see Tara Daniels today, with a corporate job in marketing and about to close on a house, you’d never know what she’s been through, how thrilled she is to be alive. This month marks five years since she received a high-risk bone marrow transplant for a life-threatening blood cancer. Tara woke up feeling sick ... Read More
Preventing leukemia by preventing rogue blood cells from taking over
As we age, many of us acquire mutations that cause some of our blood stem cells to multiply faster than others, forming their own distinct populations or “clones.” This is known as clonal hematopoiesis. In some cases, a single clone originating from a single genetically altered or mutated stem cell can expand to comprise up ... Read More
Finding new targets for acute myeloid leukemia in children
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the second most common leukemia diagnosed in children. It is hard to treat and can be fatal in some cases. While there have been some recent successes with genetically targeted therapies for adults, AML has different genetic features in children, and care has been slow to advance. “The state of ... Read More
Nurses Week 2021: Integrating new therapies into nursing practice and patient care delivery
A revolution in pharmacological gene therapy is underway, as indicated by a significant acceleration in the creation of new therapies to treat genetic disorders at the molecular level. Boston Children’s Hospital Nursing and extended team members, in collaboration with hospital researchers and scientists, biotech, and biopharma partners, have developed a set of specific processes to ... Read More
Can we prevent leukemia in patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome?
Anna Nazarenko doesn’t see herself as sick. The strong-willed, spunky 6-year-old loves to dance and ski, and spent much of April Fool’s day pranking her parents. Aside from the enzymes she takes to help digest her food, you wouldn’t know that she has Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS). The rare, inherited type of bone marrow failure has ... Read More
Arthritis drug reduces rates of acute graft-vs-host disease after bone marrow transplant
The immune-suppressing drug abatacept, currently used for rheumatoid arthritis, could make bone marrow transplant safer, report researchers at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. The phase 2 randomized, multi-center clinical trial, the largest to date, appears in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Abatacept (brand name ORENCIA) reduced rates of severe, acute graft-versus-host disease ... Read More
Cancer won’t stop me, and neither will COVID-19
Most people my age look at COVID-19 as a burden on their everyday lives of seeing friends, hanging out, and going to college. I see it differently. As an active cancer patient being treated for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), I am immunocompromised. This puts me at especially high risk for contracting COVID-19, and my ... Read More