Working together for children with cancer

News and Updates

July 13, 2010
A new, faster route for pediatric clinical trial

Researchers hoping to test promising cancer therapies for children have traditionally had to find they way through a forest of funding applications, regulatory rules, hiring procedures, review boards, statistical services, and other logistical requirements. read more

July 12, 2010
Gene therapy trial launched for "bubble boy" syndrome

Gene therapy holds the promise to cure a variety of diseases caused by mutations of a single gene. But clinical trials stalled after five boys with the immune deficiency disease SCID-X1 ("bubble boy disease") developed leukemia as a result of their treatment in Europe. read more

June 14, 2010
DF/CHCC ranks best in New England, tops in country

For the third year in a row, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) was ranked the number one pediatric cancer program in New England, and one of the best in the country in U.S. News & World Report's 2010-2011 Best Children's Hospitals issue. read more

June 1, 2010
President emeritus awarded Harvard honorary degree

Dana-Farber President Emeritus David G. Nathan, MD, received an honorary degree from Harvard University at its 359th commencement on May 27. Nathan was one of 10 honorary degree recipients, a group which included retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter and actress Meryl Streep. read more

June 2010
Stem cells teach lessons about blood diseases

Two studies from the lab of George Daley, MD, PhD, director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Children's Hospital Boston, demonstrate the power of pluripotent stem cells to teach about disease – in this case, bone marrow failure. read more

May 30, 2010
Redefining Medulloblastoma

Over recent decades, scientists revealed medulloblastomas as heterogeneous tumors with various histological, clinical and genetic characteristics. read more

April 15, 2010
Lux receives ASPHO career award

Samuel Lux, MD, emeritus chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology at Children's Hospital Boston, was recently honored with the 2010 American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) Distinguished Career Award. read more

April 5, 2010
Childhood cancer survivors may face shortened lifespan, study reveals

Although more children today are surviving cancer than ever before, young patients successfully treated in the 1970s and '80s may live a decade less, on average, than the general population, according to a study from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health. read more

April 1, 2010
Joffe appointed to federal committee

Steven Joffe, MD, MPH, a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Dana-Farber and Children's Hospital Boston, was recently appointed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections. read more

February 28, 2010
Key player found for a cancer typical in Down syndrome

Between 5 and 10 percent of babies with Down syndrome develop a transient form of leukemia that usually resolves on its own. read more

February 26, 2010
Clinical trial will seek to calm down sickle-cell disease

David Nathan, MD, was attending a cancer immunology conference where he heard about a potential drug treatment for cancer that would inhibit adenosine receptors, preventing immune cells that attack the cancer from being shut down. read more

February 22, 2010
Clinical and Translational Investigation Program Launches

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston has launched the Clinical and Translational Investigation Program (CTIP). read more

February 17, 2010
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells From Patients With a Premature Aging Disorder Bring Surprises

In a study that ties stem cell research together with research on aging and cancer, investigators at Children's Hospital Boston have used genetic reprogramming to create cells from patients with a rare premature-aging disorder that are able to rebuild their telomeres – the tips of chromosomes that must be maintained to prevent a cell from "aging" and enabling it to divide and make copies of itself. read more

January 6, 2010
London Joins Pediatric Oncology Faculty

Wendy B. London, PhD, joined Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care (DF/CHCC) as director of Biostatistics and co-director of the Clinical and Translational Investigation Program in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School. read more

December 8, 2009
New Approach to Sickle-Cell Disease Shows Promise in Mice

A new genetic approach to treating sickle cell disease is showing promising results in mice, report researchers from Children's Hospital Boston. read more

December 7, 2009
Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care Researchers Receive Innovative Research Grants

Pediatric researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have been awarded four of 13 Innovative Research Grants, distributed by the advocacy group Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C). read more

November 2, 2009
Suicidal Thoughts in Childhood Cancer Survivors

Adult survivors of childhood cancer have an increased risk for suicidal thoughts, according to a study led by Christopher Recklitis, MD, MPH, director of Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Perini Family Survivors' Center. read more

October 16, 2009
Awards and Accolades

We are very proud of our faculty’s contributions to the field of pediatric hematology/oncology. Here are a few highlights of recent honors. read more

October 6, 2009
Rodriguez-Galindo joins pediatric oncology leadership

Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, is the new director of the Solid Tumor Program, program leader for Experimental Therapeutics, and medical director of the Pediatric Oncology Clinical Trials section. read more

September 1, 2009
Daley Named Associate Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

George Q. Daley, MD, PhD, has been named associate chief of pediatric hematology/oncology at Children's Hospital Boston and director of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care. read more

August 18, 2009
Stem Cell Program Recognized as Leading Provider of Transplants

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in partnership with Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital Boston, was one of only three large stem cell transplant programs nationwide that consistently outperformed the expected one-year survival rate for unrelated donor stem cell transplants in the United States. read more

June 19, 2009
Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care named one of nation's top pediatric cancer programs

Children's Hospital Boston has been ranked first in Heart and Heart Surgery, Neurology and Neurosurgery and Orthopedics in the U.S. News Media Group's 2009 edition of America's Best Children's Hospitals featured in the August issue of U.S. News and World Report. read more

May 19, 2009
Manley joins pediatric faculty

Peter Manley, MD, has been named director of the Stop & Shop Family Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Outcomes Clinic, the Institute's specialized late-effect clinic for pediatric brain tumor survivors. read more

April 21, 2009
Genomics researcher receives accolade for discoveries

Groundbreaking contributions to cancer research through the application of basic biology and genomics to the discovery of diagnostic and therapeutic cancer targets have earned Todd Golub, MD, top honors from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). read more

April 2009
Michelson Joins Hematology Faculty

Alan Michelson, MB, BS was appointed director, Center for Platelet Research Studies and director, Thrombosis Program and Anticoagulation Service at Children's Hospital Boston. read more

March 10, 2009
New hope for patients with rare brain tumors

A few young children may be cured and others given a better shot at longterm survival thanks to a new intense, multipronged therapy regimen developed for young patients with a rare, aggressive type of brain tumor, say Dana-Farber researchers who directed the first study of its kind.
read more

March 10, 2009
Sickle cell services expand

Doctors at Dana-Farber and Children's Hospital Boston have joined colleagues at other hospitals in developing a new treatment option for people with sickle cell disease while ensuring that patients and their families are aware of the full range of therapies open to them.
read more

January 27, 2009
New treatment offered for neuroblastoma patients

Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Care recently unveiled a new therapy that uses radioiodine labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (I-131 MIBG) to treat patients with relapsed neuroblastoma. It is the first therapy of its kind to be offered in New England. read more

December 4, 2008
Turning back the clock in inherited anemias: reawakening a dormant gene could ease sickle-cell disease and thalassemia

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a way to get red blood cells to produce a form of hemoglobin normally made only before birth or by young infants. This could potentially transform sickle-cell disease and beta-thalassemia – life-threatening inherited anemias – into benign or nearly benign conditions. The findings were published by the journal Science, in its online Science Express, on December 4. read more

October 17, 2008
Researchers identify promising gene target for neuroblastoma therapy

Dana-Farber scientists have identified a set of previously unknown mutations in a single gene in 8 percent of neuroblastomas, tumors of the nervous system that occur in young children and account for approximately 15 percent of all childhood cancer deaths. read more

August 19, 2008
A new program gets children's cancer care out of the hospital

Twice a month, Larry, Brenda and Alexandria 'Lexi' Kittle pack several days' worth of necessities – a few changes of clothes, comfy pajamas, books and other items—into their car and head to Boston. The drive from their hometown of Merrimack, New Hampshire, takes about an hour. read more

June 12, 2008
Children's Hospital Boston ranked number one in New England

Children's Hospital Boston has again been listed as one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country, according to U.S.News & World Report's "America's Best Children's Hospitals" issue, dated June 9. read more

February 5, 2008
Leslie Lehmann, MD, Named Clinical Director of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation

Leslie Lehmann, MD, was recently appointed Clinical Director of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation at Dana-Farber and Children's Hospital Boston. She has been the interim clinical director since June 2005. read more

October 16, 2007
New hydration service provides freedom, flexibility to pediatric patients

A daily course of chemotherapy no longer automatically means an overnight hospital stay for many pediatric patients. Through an initiative launched earlier this year by the Jimmy Fund Clinic and Children's Hospital Boston, eligible patients have the option of receiving intravenous fluids from a small pump carried in an easy-to-wear backpack. read more

May 4, 2007
Dana-Farber launches program to take aim at low-grade pediatric brain tumors

Pediatric brain tumors termed "low-grade" grow slowly and have a better outlook for patients than the high-grade gliomas that are almost always fatal. But a group of parents who have funded a new Dana-Farber program to focus on low-grade tumors say there's an urgent need for improved treatments that don't risk impairing children's bodies and minds. read more

December 12, 2006
Home Visits: New pediatric oncology program helps families adjust

No strangers to firsts, Children's Hospital Boston and Dana-Farber are again making waves in pediatric oncology with their new Home Visits service. One of several services from the Oncology Community Outreach Program available through Dana-Farber/ Children's Hospital Cancer Care (DF/CHCC), this patient/family education service helps newly diagnosed pediatric oncology patients and their families adjust to living with cancer. read more