Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Divergent medulloblastoma chromatin states disclose KDM2B as a selective dependency

Abstract Medulloblastoma is a biologically heterogeneous childhood cerebellar tumor harboring frequent chromatin-modifying gene alterations. How these alterations promote transcriptional programs governing malignancy remains poorly defined. To address this knowledge gap, we evalu...

Exploring young adult cancer survivors’ perspectives on generative AI chatbots for symptom support

BACKGROUND: Young adult cancer survivors (ages 18-39) often experience persistent treatment-related symptoms that negatively affect daily functioning, psychosocial well-being, and quality of life, yet report unmet educational needs for symptom management. Generative artificial in...

Tumor Vascular Features and Colorectal Cancer–Specific Mortality

Importance The phenotypic and morphologic heterogeneity of tumor vasculature in colorectal cancer (CRC) has been increasingly recognized; however, its clinical importance remains unclear. Objective To examine whether specific tumor vascular features are associated with CRC-specif...

Cross-platform Bayesian deconvolution of MeDIP-seq reveals tissue-specific and cancer-associated methylation signatures

Abstract DNA methylation profiling of cell-free DNA is increasingly used for tissue-of-origin analysis and cancer detection, but quantitative interpretation of enrichment-based sequencing data remains a major challenge. MeDIP-seq provides scalable, cost-effective profiling of low...

Mitochondria-Associated Transcription Precedes Oxidative Phosphorylation in Human Embryos

Abstract Mitochondria undergo significant structural and functional changes during human pre-implantation embryogenesis, yet the transcriptional activity of both nuclear-encoded mitochondria-associated genes and mitochondrially transcribed genes across this developmental window r...

Plain language summary of the ZUMA-5 study of axicabtagene ciloleucel for people with relapsed or refractory slow-growing non-Hodgkin lymphoma

What is this summary about? This is a summary of a clinical study called ZUMA-5. The study looked at how well the cancer treatment axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) worked for people with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL), including follicular lymphoma (FL) and marginal zone l...

Quality Components for Pediatric Cancer Communication in Global Settings

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In pediatric cancer care, high-quality communication reduces parental anxiety, increases trust, enables decision-making, and fosters hope. This study sought to develop globally applicable quality components for patient-centered pediatric cancer communica...

Intraoperative Botulinum Toxin and Sialocele Incidence After Parotidectomy

ABSTRACT Objectives Postoperative sialocele is a complication of parotidectomy and, in some cases, may require multiple follow‐ups or necessitate needle aspiration. The purpose of this study was to assess whether intraoperative botulinum toxin A injection is associated with decre...

Management of Adverse Events Associated with MET TKIs in Patients with Advanced NSCLC: A Podcast Discussion

MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping is observed in approximately 3–4% of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These patients are typically older and may or may not have a history of tobacco use. Several small molecule MET tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been develo...

A HUWE1 regulatory helix gates ASCL1 degradation through its C-terminal phospho-degron in small cell lung cancer

Lineage-defining transcription factors are key oncogenic drivers but remain difficult to target pharmacologically due to the absence of ligandable pockets. The molecular rules governing substrate recognition by large HECT ubiquitin ligases also remain incompletely understood, lim...

Management of Soft Tissue and Visceral Leiomyosarcomas

Importance Leiomyosarcoma is a rare and heterogeneous malignant mesenchymal neoplasm associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Given recent advances in biologic understanding and the complexity of leiomyosarcoma, a consensus-driven approach is needed to harmonize manag...

Large Language Models (LLMs) vs Manual Chart Review for Assessing Goal-Concordant Care: An Exploratory Study

BackgroundEvidence that advance care planning (ACP) improves goal-concordant care (GCC) remains limited. Challenges are lack of reproducible operational definition of GCC and labor-intensive nature of manual chart review.ObjectivesDevelop a structured approach to adjudicating GCC...

Parent–Clinician Communication and End‐of‐Life Preparation in Pediatric Oncology: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed‐Methods Study

PURPOSE: Parental preparedness for their child's end of life (EOL) may lessen perceived suffering and prolonged grief. Although clear communication may support parental preparedness, the specific communication components that influence this process remain poorly understood. This...

Growing Up With Social Robots: Scientific, Ethical, and Theological Anthropological Perspectives on Social Robots, AI Companions, and Child and Adolescent Development

We discuss the increasing presence of social robots (SRs) and artificial intelligence (AI) companions in the contemporary ecology of youth development and the role of parasocial relationships created by youth with these technical artifacts, emphasizing the links between parasocia...

Neoadjuvant PD1 plus CTLA-4 immune checkpoint blockade in surgically resectable recurrent glioblastoma: a randomized surgical window-of-opportunity trial

Abstract We conducted a randomized surgical window-of-opportunity trial ( NCT04606316 ) in recurrent, resectable glioblastoma. Between 2021 and 2024, 71 patients were screened, and 63 were randomized (intention-to-treat [ITT] population), and 58 received study treatment. Patients...

Patient characteristics and outcomes of colorectal cancer at a cancer hospital in Rwanda: results from a retrospective cohort

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a significant contributor to cancer mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, yet it remains understudied. This study describes care gaps and survival outcomes of CRC in Rwanda. This was a retrospective observational cohort study. We included patients treated at...

Sequence-defined Digital Bottlebrush Polymers for Programmable Oligonucleotide Delivery

Oligonucleotide therapeutics hold transformative potential, yet their clinical translation is hindered by delivery barriers, including rapid renal/hepatic clearance and poor organ specificity. Bottlebrush polymers conjugates have emerged as a promising vector to address these lim...

Suppressing phosphatidylserine externalization overcomes cancer immune evasion and enhances immunotherapy

Abstract Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has transformed cancer therapy, yet many tumors remain refractory to treatment due to diverse immune evasion mechanisms. To uncover novel drivers of ICB resistance, we performed an in vivo CRISPR-Cas9 screen in mice with increasing levels...

Patient-focused intervention versus enhanced care-as-usual in facilitating gynecologic cancer patients’ clinical communication about sexual health: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Sexual problems are common, distressing, and persistent for patients with gynecologic cancer (GC). Yet patients with GC often hesitate to raise sexual concerns with their clinicians due to discomfort and inadequate preparation for the discussion. The objective was to evaluate the...

Response-Tailored or Standard-Duration Antibiotic Treatment for Infective Endocarditis

BACKGROUND: In patients with infective endocarditis on the left side of the heart, the current recommendation of up to 6 weeks of antibiotic therapy is based largely on expert consensus opinion. Whether a clinical response-tailored antibiotic management strategy can shorten treat...