LLS Community

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...

What is AML? What research is underway? And what resources are available to patients? The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society recently joined up with Patient Power and the MDS Alliance to host an AML Awareness Day and answer those questions. The April 21 webcast was moderated by Carol Preston, host of Patient Power, an online portal offering cancer information for both patients and professionals. Preston is also a chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) survivor. The panelists were Ellen Ritc...

My daughter Mackenzie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in January 2014. Despite being the most common form of childhood cancer that has a very prescribed protocol with better-than-most survival rates, the diagnosis petrified me. My nine-year-old had cancer. Nothing could have prepared me for all that would mean in the next two years, but there were a few things that helped my family navigate this new world. I share the following in hopes that it will help...

I am glad to be here. Literally. Being a survivor is a good thing. I could have been six feet under, after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on December 16, 2000. I was 40 years old, raising two children with my husband Ron. Our daughter was almost 4 years old and our son was 16 months. After I was diagnosed, I spoke with a survivor through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s First Connection program. Hearing her voice on the phone gave me so much hope. She was...