LLS Community

By Margaret Martin, RD, MS, LDN, Licensed Dietitian and Nutritionist; Certified Diabetes Educator, PearlPoint Cancer Support Many times when I speak with people who are just diagnosed with cancer, they want to change their diet immediately. I get it. They want control over something in their life when suddenly everything seems out of control. Everyone else is asking for their time, setting doctors’ appointments, and scheduling imaging and laboratory tests. Cancer survivors may tu...

By Abby Henry, Oncology Content Manager, PearlPoint Cancer Support ​Lymphedema is a common side effect among cancer survivors, but it can affect any patient whose treatment plan included lymph nodes being removed by surgery or lymph nodes being damaged by radiation treatment. Lymphedema is a swelling in the arms, legs, or other parts of the body caused by a build-up of extra lymphatic fluid. Lymphatic fluid cannot flow through the body normally if lymph nodes are removed or damage...

By Abby Henry, Oncology Content Manager, PearlPoint Cancer Support | June 2016 A lot of cancer patients and people in general have trouble getting a good night’s sleep. However, sleep is very important, especially during cancer treatment to promote healing. If you are having trouble sleeping, the first thing to do is figure out what is at the root of your difficulty sleeping—stress and anxiety, side effects, lack of peaceful sleeping environment? Once you know what is making sleep e...

David Traver, Ph.D., a professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, is the recipient of an LLS Career Development Program (CDP) grant. Traver’s research laboratory is using the zebrafish as a model to study the biology of cancer. Most of his team’s studies are aimed at understanding how the hematolymphoid system arises in the zebrafish embryo from the first hematopoietic stem cells. The zebrafish system offers easy visualization of blood cel...

By Margaret Martin, RD, MS, LDN | July 2016 What is America's favorite dessert? Ice cream is definitely in the running! Did you know that ice cream can be beneficial for cancer survivors? Ice cream can help you manage side effects from cancer and cancer treatment such as weight loss, sore mouth, sore throat, and change in taste and smell. During cancer treatment, sometimes it is difficult to find a food, texture, or flavor that's appealing. The possible flavors and textures of ice cream...

Speaking from the heart, Vice President Joseph Biden addressed thousands of cancer researchers today in a packed hall at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (#ASCO16) annual meeting in Chicago, to tout his Cancer Moonshot initiative. The theme of this year’s #ASCO16 meeting, “Collective Wisdom – The Future of Patient-Centered Care and Research,” is perfectly aligned with the goals of the Moonshot, Biden told the rapt audience.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (#ASCO16) annual meeting featured several significant oral scientific presentations on the blood cancers over the weekend here in Chicago. CPX-351: A session on hematological malignancies Saturday afternoon included a discussion of final data from the Phase 3 clinical trial of Celator’s drug CPX-351 (Vyxeos ®). LLS invested substantially in this study through our Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP). The study was in a small subset of elderly pati...

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (#ASCO16) annual meeting kicked off today as more than 30,000 researchers from around the world converged in Chicago to share their latest clinical findings on treatments and diagnostics for all cancers, and to exchange ideas about how to improve outcomes for cancer patients. Putting patients at the center of cancer care and research is this year’s theme at ASCO, something we at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) try to do every day. Sprin...

I was 28, married for two years, and my husband and I had just celebrated our one-year anniversary at my business, Gigi’s Cupcakes. We were happy and healthy and ready to start thinking about having a family. Life was perfect! On March 30, 2012, that all changed. I had gone to see my physician for bruising on my legs. After undergoing a couple of lab tests, my doctor informed me that in all his years of medicine, he had never seen a white blood cell count that high. He couldn’t fathom ...

Helen Heslop, M.D., leads a team of scientists being funded through LLS’s Specialized Center of Research Program (SCOR). The project brings together researchers from different institutions to test a half dozen novel approaches to cancer immunotherapy – all of which harness the patient's own immune system to fight the cancer. Heslop, a professor in the Department of Medicine and Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and the director of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, pioneered...