Dana-farber Cancer Institute

Research scientific work at dana-farber is based on the premise that basic and clinical investigation are complementary and reinforcing activities. to encourage this cross-pollination of ideas, the institute has developed an organizational framework that fosters collaborations among investigators from different disciplines. the result is an intense scientific impact on a group of diseases that continue to represent one of humanitys greatest health challenges. some recent advances include: overcoming resistance to immunotherapy: a team of researchers at dana-farber and the broad institute of mit and harvard identified a pattern of gene activity in human melanoma cells that enables them to resist immunotherapy. the researchers demonstrated that a combination of therapies could overcome this resistance. parp inhibitors open two-front attack on cancer: dana-farber researchers showed that parp inhibitors drugs designed to kill cancer cells by hindering the repair of dna can also spark an immune system attack on such cells. preventive surgery and quality of life: as more young women with breast cancer opt to have mastectomies, many experience a persistent decline in their sexual and psychosocial well-being, dana-farber investigators reported. the findings underscored the importance of counseling patients about the potential long-term physical and emotional consequences of the procedure. blood test for cancer: in tests led by dana-farber researchers, a new blood test screened for numerous types of cancer with a high degree of accuracy. the test uses next-generation technology to probe dna within blood for chemical tags called methyl groups that influence gene activity. one-time education class for chronic insomnia: dana-farber investigators reported that a single-session sleep education program could often cure cancer survivors of chronic insomnia a common problem among survivors and that those who didnt benefit were often helped by a more extensive, but still modest, three-session program. exposure to second-hand vapor from e-cigarettes: a growing number of middle- and high-school students are being exposed to second-hand aerosols from e-cigarettes by living with or being around individuals who are vaping, according to a dana-farber analysis of national survey data. exercise benefits patients with advanced colorectal cancer: patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who engaged in moderate exercise while undergoing chemotherapy tended to have delayed progression of their disease and fewer side effects from treatment, a study by dana-farber and brigham and womens hospital researchers found. artificial intelligence tool shows promise: scientists at dana-farber demonstrated that an artificial intelligence tool could perform as well as human reviewers and much more rapidly in extracting clinical information on changes in tumors from unstructured radiology reports for patients with lung cancer. the tool performed comparably to trained human curators in detecting the presence of cancer and its response to treatment. immunotherapy and second drug show effectiveness in ovarian cancer: a combination of an immunotherapy drug and a dna repair-blocking agent can be significantly more effective than either drug alone in women with hard-to-treat ovarian cancer, a clinical trial led by dana-farber researchers indicated. the trial offered evidence that immunotherapies, which rarely have an impact against ovarian cancer as single agents, could produce a powerful anti-cancer response in tandem with other drugs. walking speed and outcomes in older patients: researchers at dana-farber and the va boston healthcare system uncovered a new vital sign for gauging survival and likelihood of having an unplanned hospitalization in older patients with blood cancers: the speed at which they can walk. the researchers reported that for every 0.1 meter per second decrease in how fast patients walk four meters, the risk of dying, unexpectedly going to the hospital,