LLS Research Spotlight

The winner of the first annual CDP Achievement Award in the Fellow category, along with $10,000 to be used for LLS mission-relevant research, is Dr. Peter van Galen. Dr. van Galen was awarded the LLS Fellow award in 2016 as a postdoc in Dr. Bradley Bernstein’s laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. Shortly after this award ended, Dr. van Galen transitioned to independence, opening his own laboratory at Brigh...

It goes without saying that cancer causes a great burden on the patient, but few consider the great burden it causes on the informal caregivers.  An informal caregiver, usually a close family member or occasionally a friend, perform a great number of services to the cancer patient.  These include practical help, such as driving the patient to the hospital and taking over the family responsibilities such as ...

Dr. Shannon Elf, rising star in the blood cancer field, is a highly driven and compassionate investigator dedicated to the pursuit of new therapeutic strategies targeting the molecular dependencies of myeloid malignancies. With recent publications in Blood and Cancer Discovery, her research exhibits a high level of impact and cutting-edge developments, securing her place as a winner of the first annual LLS Caree...

Various cellular events may lead to cancer. These include DNA mutations that change a protein’s structure as well as alterations that change the way genes are expressed.  A team led by Dr. Abdel-Wahab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center recently published research showing a connection between specific mutations and how certain genes are expressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They show that ...

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has supported junior investigators in blood cancer research for more than 50 years through the Career Development Program (CDP). Many CDP recipients have gone on to become leaders in the field and have greatly contributed to our understanding of blood cancer and its treatment. These contributions can be seen in the impactful publications of our CDP awardees. To acknowled...

Cancer results from the malfunction or dysregulation of normal cellular processes. The dysregulation of two such processes (or pathways) that are particularly significant for cancer development are epigenetic and metabolic changes. Epigenetic changes are reversible modifications to DNA and surrounding proteins that affect the regulation of gene activity and may be related to cellular metabolism, which are chemical re...

Outcome prediction is central to the care of cancer patients. Will the patient be symptom-free at some point in the near future or succumb to the disease? Will the patient benefit from a more aggressive or less aggressive therapy? Scientists and clinicians have spent considerable effort to define parameters to predict patient outcomes and the best treatment approaches. These efforts have improved patient care, but ma...

Though a patient’s cancer is treated as a single disease, it is made up of a diverse collection of cells that are related but may have distinct characteristics. When mutations occur in cells and are passed down to daughter cells, new subclonal populations are created in the bulk cancer population. Each subclonal population has a distinct mutational profile. In order to fully understand each patient’s cancer, we r...

The population of elderly people is increasing both in the United States and worldwide, and this increase presents challenges in addressing the medical risk factors associated with aging, including an increased risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia (AML). New research out of the laboratory of Maria "Ken" Figueroa, Associate Professor and Co-Leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Research Program at University of Miami ...

In recent years, there has been a rapid surge in the amount of genomic information available to researchers. This information enhances the understanding of human disease and provides the fuel needed to achieve personalized medicine. New advances in technology and in the ability to analyze massive datasets have allowed scientists to more precisely define cancer behavior, including how these diseases adapt to evade the...