Featured series 
Tag: Cancer
-
Campus & Community
Smoking, burning solid fuels in homes in China projected to cause millions of deaths
If current levels of smoking and of burning biomass and coal fuel in homes continues in China, researchers estimate that between 2003 and 2033, 65 million deaths will be attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 18 million deaths to lung cancer, accounting for 19 percent and 5 percent of all deaths in that…
-
Science & Tech
Star quest knowledge provides new view of ourselves
In a basement laboratory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), surrounded by instruments built to detect the universe’s distant secrets, sits a machine that will help us look not outward to the stars, but inward at our own bodies.
-
Campus & Community
Spend an ‘Evening with Champions’ Oct. 10-11
Top world skaters will skate for a cause this weekend (Oct. 10-11) when they gather at Bright Hockey Center for the Jimmy Fund’s annual “An Evening with Champions.” Hosted by 1992 Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie ’90, the event has raised more than $2.4 million for the Jimmy Fund, which supports adult and pediatric cancer…
-
Campus & Community
Harvard-affiliated gene study receives NIH funding
Two Harvard Medical School (HMS) professors of ophthalmology are co-principal investigators of a gene project that has received funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Lou Pasquale and Janey Wiggs, both glaucoma researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, are leading the grant-winning team of researchers that includes Vincent L. Gregory Professor in…
-
Health
Advance in pluripotent cell creation
A team of Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists has taken an important step toward producing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that are safe to transplant into patients to treat diseases. Excitement over the ability of researchers to create this form of stem cell by inserting four genes into adult cells has thus far been…
-
Health
New approach to gene therapy may shrink brain tumors, prevent their spread
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers are investigating a new approach to gene therapy for brain tumors — delivering a cancer-fighting gene to normal brain tissue around the tumor to keep it from spreading. An animal study described in the journal Molecular Therapy, the first study to test the feasibility of such an approach, found that…
-
Campus & Community
Thomas Weller, Nobel laureate, HSPH professor emeritus, dies at 93
Thomas H. Weller, a Nobel Prize winner in 1954 and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) professor emeritus, passed away on Aug. 23. He was 93.
-
Health
HPV, cervical cancer link earns scientists Alpert Prize
Two scientists who discovered that specific types of human papillomavirus, or HPV, cause cancer of the cervix received the 20th annual Warren Alpert Foundation Scientific Prize on Sept. 15. As part of the day’s celebration, the prize winners Harald zur Hausen and Lutz Gissmann — both professors at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg…
-
Campus & Community
Susan E. Mango named professor of molecular and cellular biology
Susan E. Mango, whose study of pharynx development in nematode worms has provided biologists with one of their most robust models of organ development, has been named professor of molecular and cellular biology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), effective July 1, 2009. Mango, 46, was previously professor of oncological sciences at the…
-
Campus & Community
Triple axels to benefit Jimmy Fund
Top world skaters, including 1964 Olympic gold medalists Ludmilla and Oleg Protopopov and national synchronized skating champions the Haydenettes, will take on cancer when they gather for the annual “An Evening with Champions” on Oct. 10-11 (at 7 and 8 p.m., respectively) at Bright Hockey Center. Started in 1970 by former U.S. champion John Misha…
-
Campus & Community
Harvard-Affiliated Dana-Farber Reaps CIO 100 Award
CIO Magazine has named the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute a 2008 CIO 100 Award winner. The magazine presents the award to 100 organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology. The winners were announced in the magazine’s Aug. 15 issue.
-
Campus & Community
HMS to host quantitative genomics conference, more
The second annual Conference in Quantitative Genomics will be held Sept. 23-25 at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Hosted by the Program in Quantitative Genomics at the School, “Emerging Quantitative Issues in Parallel Sequencing” is supported with a grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
-
Health
Scientists Who Linked HPV with Cervical Cancer Win 20th Annual Alpert Prize
Two scientists who discovered that specific types of human papillomavirus, or HPV, cause cancer of the cervix will receive the 20th annual Warren Alpert Foundation Scientific Prize on Sept. 15.…
-
Campus & Community
Newsmakers
HMS’s Burstein new editor-in-chief of cancer journal; Doctoral student receives prestigious national doctoral fellowship; Two students recognized for innovative solutions; Smith joins Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program; Dept. of Government of awards dissertation prizes; HMNH wins ‘Best Museum’ award; Melanie A. Samuel named Damon Runyon Fellow
-
Health
Science in brief
Researchers identify promising cancer drug target in prostate tumors; Scientists find how neural activity spurs blood flow in the brain: Newfound mechanisms could bolster understanding of brain imaging, aging’s effects; World Health Organization creates new surgical tool to make operations safer everywhere; Invasive treatment appears beneficial for men and high-risk women with certain type of…
-
Health
Young smokers recruited with menthol, study finds
Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) explored tobacco industry manipulation of menthol levels in specific brands and found a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the firsttime smoker.
-
Health
Researchers identify promising cancer drug target in prostate tumors
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report they have blocked the development of prostate tumors in cancer-prone mice by knocking out a molecular unit they describe as a “powerhouse” that drives…
-
Health
Prostate cancer treatments are contrasted
Jim Hu and colleagues at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) assessed surgical utilization and complications, lengths of hospital stay, and cancer outcomes in more than 2,700 men who underwent prostate cancer surgery.
-
Health
Researchers report successful new laser treatment for vocal-cord cancer
An innovative laser treatment for early vocal-cord cancer, developed at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), successfully restores patients’ voices without radiotherapy or traditional surgery, which can permanently damage vocal quality.
-
Health
Risk of death reduced within years of quitting smoking
Women who quit smoking significantly reduce their risk of death from coronary heart disease within five years and have about a 20 percent lower risk of death from smoking-related cancers within that time period, according to a study in the May 7 issue of JAMA.
-
Health
Passage of time reduces smoking mortality risk for women who quit
Women who quit smoking significantly reduce their risk ofdeath from coronary heart disease within 5 years and have about a 20percent lower risk of death from smoking-related cancers within thattime…
-
Health
First targeted therapy for melanoma brings hope
In a demonstration that even some of the most hard-to-treat tumors may one day succumb to therapies aimed at molecular “weak points,” researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report the first instance in which metastatic melanoma has been driven into remission by a targeted therapy.
-
Health
Late treatment with letrozole can reduce cancer recurrence risk
Treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara) can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence even when initiated one to seven years after a course of tamoxifen therapy. The results of a study involving women originally in the placebo arm of an international trial of letrozole will appear in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and…
-
Campus & Community
Daffodil orders being taken until Feb. 29
The first flower of spring, the daffodil has long been a symbol of hope and renewal. It has also become a powerful tool in the American Cancer Society’s efforts to treat patients.
-
Campus & Community
Crimson still gritty in pink
Perhaps to the shock of the Union and Rensselaer women’s hockey teams, the color of the Crimson’s jerseys this past weekend (Feb. 8-9) failed to soften the club’s ferocious play. Donned in specifically designed pink jerseys for the Pink at the Rink campaign, the No. 1 nationally ranked Harvard squad shut out the visiting squads,…
-
Campus & Community
Daffodil Days, Harvard team up to fight cancer
The first flower of spring, the daffodil has long been a symbol of hope and renewal. It has also become a powerful tool in the American Cancer Society’s efforts to treat patients.
-
Health
Newly identified gene variants associated with prostate cancer risk
Three studies presenting newly identified genetic variants that are associated with increased susceptibility to prostate cancer were published recently (Feb. 10) on the advance online site of Nature Genetics. The 10 gene variants double the number of known variants associated with risk of the disease and are the result of genomewide association studies.
-
Health
Anxiety linked to overestimation of breast cancer risks
Elevated levels of anxiety may cause women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the most common form of noninvasive breast cancer, to overestimate their risk of recurrence or dying from breast cancer, suggests a study led by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
-
Campus & Community
Flower power: Daffodil Days, Harvard team up to fight cancer
The first flower of spring, the daffodil has long been a symbol of hope and renewal. It has also become a powerful tool in the American Cancer Society’s efforts to treat patients.
-
Health
Cancer stem cells can be targeted for destruction
It’s increasingly believed among scientists that nearly every cancer contains small populations of highly dangerous cells — cancer stem cells — that can initiate a cancer, drive its progression, and create endless copies of themselves. On the theory that targeting these cells might be an effective therapeutic strategy, researchers around the world have begun isolating…