Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

“We found a way to harness an inherent feature of cancer to attack itself,” says Xin Zhou, PhD, a researcher at Dana-Farber. “Targeting membrane proteins for protein degradation is relatively new, which makes this an exciting opportunity.” Zhou and her team have developed a new platform that repurposes a cancer cell's own refueling mechanism to degrade proteins driving tumor growth. This innovative approach, called TransTAC (Transferrin Receptor Targeting Chimeras), offers a promising new way to target membrane proteins like EGFR and PD-L1, which play critical roles in cancer progression. This breakthrough could potentially reshape how we approach cancer treatment. “We are just beginning to generate preclinical evidence about TransTACs. So far, it’s really encouraging,” says Zhou.

We’re honored to be recognized by the American Medical Association's Joy in Medicine program for our commitment to physician well-being in 2024. You can read more about the honor here:

We are proud to announce that Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Hospital Cancer and Blood Disorder Center has again been name among the best pediatric cancer hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. Dana-Farber/Boston Children's has been recognized as one of the top three pediatric cancer centers in the country each year since the ranking's inception in 2007. “We are honored that U.S. News & World Report has recognized our program among the top pediatric cancer programs in the country and as the top program in New England for the past 18 years and we are proud to continue providing exceptional patient care and conducting impactful research,” said Scott Armstrong MD, PhD, President of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s. Learn more about Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder Center and our U.S. News & World Report Ranking: https://lnkd.in/e8Vqshrg

Congratulations to Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, on her appointment to the National Cancer Advisory Board. Co-director of Dana-Farber’s Pediatric Hematologic Malignancies Program, Stegmaier will be playing an important role in guiding the Director of the National Cancer Institute in setting the course for the national cancer research program. https://bit.ly/405EUpD

Sylvia Bartel has been promoted to senior vice president of pharmacy and chief pharmacy officer. Sylvia has been an invaluable leader in the Department of Pharmacy and has played a pivotal role in numerous milestones that significantly advanced our institution. We look forward to her continued leadership and the impact she will have on advancing the role of Pharmacy at our Institute and beyond.

Many clinical trials of new cancer drugs may be inappropriately excluding some people with "Duffy-null phenotype," a trait found predominantly in people of African or Middle Eastern descent, researchers at Dana-Farber and Queen Mary University of London report in a new study. People with Duffy-null phenotype have relatively low counts of neutrophils – a type of white blood cell – as measured in standard blood tests. This is not because they have fewer neutrophils overall, but because their neutrophils are more frequently located in other body tissues. Tests that restrict clinical trial eligibility to patients with certain blood levels of neutrophils may therefore be unfairly discriminating against patients who could potentially benefit from trial therapies. The failure to account for Duffy-null phenotype also means that recommendations for many standard cancer drugs inappropriately call for less- effective doses for some individuals, researchers say. Neutrophils are white blood cells that kill bacteria and other foreign microbes. Tests that count them in a blood sample are performed to ensure that patients can safely be treated with chemotherapy or other anti-cancer drugs. Neutrophil levels are often reduced by cancer drugs, potentially raising the risk of infection. For patients to qualify for a clinical trial or a standard dose of many cancer drugs, their neutrophil levels need to be above a certain threshold to ensure they will retain enough of these cells following treatment. The threshold was established by studies conducted primarily in patients of European descent who rarely have the Duffy-null phenotype. Many healthy people with the Duffy-null phenotype, however, normally have lower levels of neutrophils in their blood and relatively higher levels in other tissues. "People with the Duffy-null phenotype are equally able to fight off infections compared to others," says Andrew Hantel, MD, the senior author of the new paper, published in JAMA Network Open. "The concern is that they've been excluded from clinical trials because the neutrophil blood levels that are normal for them can fall below the cut-off points for trial participation. In this study, we explored the extent to which this occurs." “Natural variation in neutrophil counts between people of different ancestries has been historically described by the inaccurate and now-outdated diagnosis ‘benign ethnic neutropenia,’” says study first author Stephen Hibbs, BMBCh, of Queen Mary University of London. “But since this variation was discovered to be caused by the Duffy-null phenotype, we need to re-examine the ways in which neutrophil count misinterpretation can affect patient care." In the study, researchers examined participation criteria for 289 phase III trials of drugs for the five most prevalent cancers in the United States and United Kingdom. More: https://lnkd.in/eJc24HNB

Around 3,000 current and past pediatric patients, their loved ones, and staff attended the 31st annual Jimmy Fund Clinic Festival Sept. 15 at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo. The event offered families cared for at Dana-Farber/ Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center an opportunity to bond. In addition to animals of all sizes, stripes, and species, there were plenty of activities for attendees to enjoy, including face painting; posing for caricature artists or in photo booths; riding a carousel; and getting airbrush tattoos. Disney princesses and superheroes added magic and fantasy, while a stilt-walker dressed like a giraffe juggled rings high above the crowd. There was also lunch and a Candy Bar, with volunteers to help hand out T-shirts and caps and stuff plush sloths and kangaroos and distribute them as cuddle buddies to the attendees. The festival has been planned and hosted since its inception in 1992 by Lisa Scherber, director of Patient and Family Programs at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s. 🐅 🐘 🦍 🐖

New stem cell transplant methods using “mismatched” donors and post-transplant cyclophosphamide could dramatically improve access to lifesaving transplants for underrepresented groups. The study, led by Mahasweta Gooptu, MD, a physician at Dana-Farber, has introduced advancements in stem cell transplants using mismatched donors and post-transplant cyclophosphamide. These developments enable safe transplants with seven out of eight human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matches, increasing donor availability to 75-95% across all ethnicities. Learn more about this breakthrough.

Nicholas Gauthier, PhD, has created a new tool that can take an existing protein and propose a range of very different new designs. In cancer medicine, for instance, protein engineers could apply this tool to design protein degraders that eliminate proteins that drive cancer. https://bit.ly/3ZMdkgV

LBCA is shining a spotlight on lobular breast cancer, which accounts for 15% of breast cancer diagnoses each year. Lobular breast cancer is the second most common form of breast cancer with over 46,000 women diagnosed each year in the US, but it receives less than 1% of breast cancer research funding and has no specific treatment. Hear from Dana-Farber clinicians, patient advocates, and LBCA Executive Director Laurie Hutcheson about the importance of raising awareness of lobular breast cancer, a distinct breast cancer type that may not form a lump, can be missed on mammograms, and is often diagnosed later when tumors are larger. This virtual event is open to the public. https://bit.ly/3zV9qb3