Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Michael Ingram says the last six months have been challenging. Diagnosed with lymphoma in January, Ingram, an 18-year-old patient at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center at Milford Regional Medical Center, underwent chemotherapy while completing his final semester of high school. His appointment on June 5, however, brought some much-needed celebration. First, Humberto Rossi, MD, Ingram’s oncologist, shared the news that his lymphoma is in remission. After the appointment, Rossi led Ingram down a hallway lined with applauding staff members while the graduation march, “Pomp and Circumstance,“ played in the background. Inside a cheerfully decorated infusion room, Ingram was presented with a cake and poster board that read, “Happy graduation from your Dana-Farber family,“ along with warm messages of congratulations, inspiration, and hope from dozens of clinicians. “I was shocked, and then I started tearing up a little,“ recalls Ingram, who walked in his graduation ceremony at Bellingham High School two days after the clinic celebration. “It showed me how many people care and are willing to take extra steps to make me feel special.“ After experiencing fatigue for several weeks last winter, Ingram says he felt like his heart dropped when a blood test revealed that he had lymphoma. “Cancer just isn’t something I ever thought about getting or being around,” he says. At first, Ingram says, he only shared the diagnosis with his family and a close group of friends because he worried about being treated differently. “I wanted to feel like a normal kid,“ he explains. “I’m still Michael.“ At Dana-Farber Brigham - Milford, the care team became an extension of this tight-knit support network. “They listen when I need to talk, and when I need my space, they give it to me,“ says Ingram. “Because of them, I never worried about anything. They made me feel safe and like I’m going to be okay – and I am.“ Ingram also shared gratitude for Rossi’s patience in answering every question he had and helping him fully understand his disease and treatment. Patient care staff at the Institute regularly celebrate patient birthdays, the halfway point of their treatment, and their final infusion, but oncology nurse Lauren McCarthy, RN, says this was the first school graduation celebration she helped organize, alongside oncology social worker Kimberly Kisil, LICSW; oncology nurse navigator Stephanie Girouard, RN, BSN, OCN; staff nurses Mary-Beth (Rapko) Proulx, RN, and Patricia Silva, RN; and clinical assistant Kelly Veneziano. “We see patients during what is often the most difficult time in their and their loved one’s lives, so we love to make a big deal of milestones and special moments,“ McCarthy explains. Rossi says he admires Ingram’s resilience. “This treatment course is intense and has been disruptive at an important time in his life,“ states Rossi. “Michael is brave and tenacious. We congratulate him on his big day.“ 🎓

Bladder cancer treatment is evolving with groundbreaking immunotherapies and gene therapies. “We are exploring novel approaches to immunotherapy to expand the number of patients who experience remission,” says Wenxin (Vincent) Xu, MD, a physician in the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber. Learn more here: http://ms.spr.ly/6047l5pvt

In April 2004, four months into her new role in Human Resources at Dana-Farber, Bernadette Giandomenico, then 28, arrived at the office pale, exhausted, and out of breath. With her husband Paul scheduled to be deployed to Iraq in the coming days, she attributed her symptoms to stress. An astute nurse in Occupational Health Services, however, recommended that Giandomenico go straight to the emergency room next door at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “From that day on, I didn’t leave the hospital for six weeks,“ recalls Giandomenico, who grew up in County Galway, Ireland. Initially, she was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, a life-threatening blood clot in the lung, but given her age and otherwise good health, doctors were curious to find the cause.  After several tests, Giandomenico was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a rare but often treatable blood cancer. When caught early, about nine out of every 10 people with APL can be cured and, once in remission, there is a very low rate of relapse. “It’s also common for people with APL to present with bleeding or blood clots,“ explains Daniel DeAngelo, MD, PhD, chief of Leukemia at Dana-Farber, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and member of Giandomenico’s care team. “The pulmonary embolism turned out to be a clue about her cancer diagnosis.“ Giandomenico then enrolled in a pioneering clinical trial at the Institute. After two years of treatment with oral and intravenous chemotherapy, she was in remission – and has been for 20 years. “I have a different outlook on life,“ remarks Giandomenico. “I realize now that everything is precious, and it’s clear what is truly important. For me, that’s the people I love and the time I have.“ Shortly before her diagnosis, Giandomenico says she and her husband were looking forward to having children of their own. With chemotherapy as part of her treatment regimen, Giandomenico says she wasn’t sure if that would happen. With support and careful planning in partnership with her oncology team, however, the Giandomenicos welcomed a baby girl, Maya, now 15, four years after treatment. “Bernadette really wanted to be a parent, and we helped preserve her fertility so she could achieve that goal,“ recalls DeAngelo. “If Bernadette was treated today, she wouldn’t need chemotherapy at all.“ The clinical trial that Giandomenico participated in led to significant clinical advancements in the way APL is treated at Dana-Farber. Before the trial, patients with APL received chemotherapy along with a drug called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). The clinical trial that Giandomenico enrolled in tested arsenic trioxide in combination with ATRA. Today, patients with APL at Dana-Farber no longer receive chemotherapy as part of their treatment because the trial showed this method proved to be more effective. Shortly after her daughter was born, Giandomenico and her husband also welcomed a son, Daniel, now 14.

Oncology nurse GLORIA BUETTNER has been hooked on fly fishing for more than 10 years. Learn more about her participation in the Cheeky Fly Fishing Tournament and her work with Casting for Recovery, a nonprofit that hosts fishing retreats for breast cancer survivors. 🎣 🐟 ⬇

Can vitamin D reduce your risk of colorectal cancer? Clinical trials have not shown that taking a supplement can reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer. However, high doses of vitamin D may help to slow the progression of colorectal cancer in diagnosed patients. Learn more from Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dana-Farber physician-scientists have received a five-year, $15 million Program Project Grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for research in endometrial cancer, a malignancy of the inner lining of the uterus that affects more than 68,000 women per year in the United States. It is one of only two forms of cancer in which survival rates have not significantly improved since the mid-’70s. The grant will fund three projects that focus on replication stress, a key characteristic of many endometrial cancers, especially high-grade and aggressive forms. Replication stress slows or stops DNA duplication during the cell cycle, potentially setting the stage for mutations or other genomic abnormalities. Each project explores a different approach to targeting replication stress as a vulnerability in endometrial cancer cells. “The incidence of endometrial cancer in the U.S. is rising at an overall rate of 1% per year and is increasing even faster among non-white populations,“ explains Ursula Matulonis, MD, chief of Gynecologic Oncology and co-principal investigator of the program, with Gynecologic Oncology colleagues Panagiotis A. Konstantinopoulos, MD, PhD, and Joyce Liu, MD, MPH, director of translational research and associate chief and director of clinical research in the department, respectively. “At the same time, there are racial and ethnic disparities in both incidence and survival for this disease, with Black women at a higher risk to develop the disease, and more likely to die from it, than white women. These trends make it urgent that we develop new treatment strategies, particularly for patients with advanced or relapsed cancer.“ The three projects are: • Study of the molecular mechanism by which targeted drugs called WEE1 inhibitors act in recurrent uterine serous cancer, an uncommon but aggressive subtype of endometrial cancer, and in uterine cancer harboring a mutation in the p53 gene. The project builds on a clinical trial led by Liu and Konstantinopoulos that found that adavosertib, a WEE1 inhibitor, has significant activity in these cancers. • Research into the hypothesis that inhibiting the PI3K protein pathway with a drug agent can increase replication stress in endometrial tumor cells and work in combination with targeted drugs known as ATR inhibitors. • Investigating the possibility of targeting two types of “checkpoint“ proteins in endometrial cancer cells. One acts as a checkpoint on repair of DNA damage while the other acts as a checkpoint on the immune response to cancer. “Each of these projects has great potential for improving the treatment of endometrial cancer by targeting replication stress,“ remarks Matulonis. Additional project leaders associated with the grant include Dana-Farber researchers Dipanjan Chowdhury, PhD, principal investigator of the Chowdhury Lab, and Jean Zhao, PhD, principal investigator of the Zhao Lab.

Cervical cancer is preventable and treatable, yet people from historically marginalized groups are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease. Find out what you can do to prevent or get treatment for the disease: http://ms.spr.ly/6046l5kxk

This past weekend, Pan-Mass Challenge riders, volunteers, sponsors, and donors came together with the goal of raising at least $75 million for Dana-Farber, bringing us closer by the mile to defying cancer. Since 1980, the PMC has given more than $1 billion to support cancer research and treatment. Every year, we see how the PMC community continues to make a life-changing difference in the way the world treats cancer through the events of PMC Ride Weekend. The dedication of the PMC riders, volunteers, sponsors, and donors makes the lifesaving cancer care and research provided by Dana-Farber possible to patients in Boston and around the world. The PMC is co-presented by Red Sox Foundation and M&T Bank. #PMC2024 #OneInABillion

Kara Burke, BSN, RN, a nurse at Dana-Farber - Longwood Medical Area (right) and Nina Camilli, BSN, RN, a staff nurse at Dana-Farber - Chestnut Hill (left), were recently recognized with the DAISY Award, a quarterly honor given to an extraordinary member of the nursing department. “From the moment Kara introduced herself at the initial session, I had good vibes and was confident she knew what she was doing and was focused,” read one nomination for Burke. “Kara exhibited such a positive attitude with a smile on her face as she delineated every aspect of my treatment. Each week, I became more and more impressed with her innate ability to clearly and calmly communicate the important elements of my treatment.” “Nina is fun, compassionate, caring, and the kind of person that puts you at ease the moment you sit down for treatment,” read a nomination for Camilli. “She makes you feel like you are her only patient and gives you her undivided attention when she’s with you. She is deserving of this award and embodies everything that a patient needs and wants in a nurse.” The The DAISY Foundation (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) established the award in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, whose parents created the foundation in Patrick’s memory after experiencing firsthand the skills, care, and compassion of nurses. 

Evanna Mills, PhD, and Brenda Nakagaki, PhD, have been selected to join Biomedical Sciences programs at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Mills is one of 22 early career scientists to be invited into this year’s Pew Scholars Program while Nakagaki is one of 10 postdoctoral fellows from six Latin American countries selected to join the 2024 class of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program. As a current Pew Scholar, Mills will meet annually with Pew-funded scientists to build connections and exchange ideas across disciplines. Scholars were chosen from 198 applicants who were nominated by leading academic institutions and researchers across the country. Her research for the program will explore processes that control the function of macrophages, or crucial immune cells that can cause harmful inflammation. “Support from the Pew Charitable Trust at this early stage of my career is pivotal to the success of my research program,“ shares Mills, the principal investigator of the Mills Lab at Dana-Farber. “I am delighted to be selected as a member of the 2024 Pew Biomedical Sciences Scholars class. I am also immensely proud to say that Brenda, a postdoctoral researcher in my lab, was also selected for the Pew Latin American Fellows Program.“ As a fellow, Nakagaki will investigate how the metabolic dysfunction that accompanies obesity caused by diet can trigger inflammation in different cells and tissues. “I’m deeply honored to be named as a Pew Latin American Fellow,“ remarks Nakagaki. "This recognition is incredibly meaningful and will not only support my work, but it will also give me the opportunity to exchange knowledge and collaborate with esteemed colleagues and experts of this vibrant scientific community.“ Fellows in the Latin American program receive two years of funding to conduct research in labs across the United States. They will also receive mentorship from prominent biomedical scientists, including alumni from the Latin American Fellows Program and the Pew Scholars Program. ✨ ⬇ Evanna Mills (left) and Brenda Nakagaki