Leukemia
Research
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium, headed by physicians at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston is an international leader in ALL treatment and research, including:
- Treatment protocol design and outcome
- Identifying and reducing the risk of neuropsychologic late effects in survivors of childhood ALL
- Identifying and reducing the risk of cardiac dysfunction in survivors of childhood ALL
- Identifying and reducing the risk of side effects from chemotherapeutic agents used to treat ALL, including asparaginase and corticosteroids
- Ongoing assessment of patients' quality-of-life during and after therapy
- Using state-of-the-art laboratory technology to characterize novel chromosomal and molecular abnormalities in order to identify biologically distinctive subsets of ALL that may require different therapy
- Investigating the role of the body's immune system and the tumor-associated angiogenesis in the development and treatment of ALL, with the goal of developing novel therapies
Investigational therapies for refractory or relapsed disease, including:
- Trials of tumor vaccines uniquely available at Children's Hospital Boston and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Investigational drugs available via the Children's Oncology Group
In addition, members of the Leukemia Program are active members of the Children's Oncology Group research program evaluating best primary therapy for patients with newly diagnosed disease:
- Children's Oncology Group studies for treatment of patients with relapsed disease
- Alternative donor stem cell transplantation for relapsed disease
