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LLS has expanded its series of fact sheets on managing side effects to include: -Low Appetite and Weight Loss -Mouth and Throat -Nausea and Vomiting -Diarrhea and Constipation -Peripheral Neuropathy -Childhood Cancer Treatment on Learning -Memory and Concentration Problems in Adults -Skin, Nails, Hair and Mouth The fact sheets can be downloaded or ordered HERE. For additional support and resources, please contact an Information Specialist today!
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell Therapy or CAR T-cell therapy is an immunotherapy where a patient's immune system t-cells are engineered to detect and kill cancer cells. Currently there are four FDA approved CAR T-cell therapies for blood cancers: Axicabtagene ciloleucel (YescartaTM) is FDA approved for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not other...
Surprise medical bills can reach tens of thousands of dollars and devastate patients and their families. Help protect patients from this practice now. Congressional leaders have one last chance to pass legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills this year. These are the bills patients receive when, for instance, they get healthcare at an in-network facility but – unbeknownst to them – are seen by an out-of-network provider. LLS advocates have lobbied for a comprehens...
IMPORTANT UPDATES: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine On Tuesday, April 13 the CDC and FDA paused the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the U.S. You can read more here. An expert committee for the CDC met on Wednesday, April 14 to review vaccine safety data. The committee advised that its needs more time, likely 7 to 10 more days, to assess the data and potential risks from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This pause and review of the data shows the vaccine safety system is work...
LLS Community is launching a new series focused on highlighting research in blood cancer. The first in this series focuses on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). If you have a suggestion for a research highlight, please email to community@lls.org. The five-year survival rate for a child with leukemia 50 years ago was a dismal 3%, but with the advent of combination chemotherapy as standard of care in the 1960s, increasing understanding of the disease, and more recent discoveries of novel ...
The more we learn more about the underlying mutations that drive cancer the better we get at more precisely hitting those targets with specialized, less toxic treatments. We now understand that a one-size-fits all approach to treating cancer is ineffective for many patients. As The 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual Meeting ends, let’s take a look at results from studies of targeted therapies that work by interfering with the altered genes that cause cancer cells to grow and s...
More than three years after the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy achieved U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, the revolutionary approach that has upended blood cancer treatment continues to generate excitement. LLS support over more than two decades helped lay the groundwork for this approach to therapy that has been a game-changer for patients who have relapsed multiple times and seemingly exhausted their treatment options. The method works by infusing im...
With the COVID-19 pandemic driving yet another science conference to the virtual world, it is fitting that the 62nd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition officially kicked off today with a virtual fireside chat via live stream featuring none other than Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a member of the administration’s coronavirus task force. The ASH meeting typically fills massive convention centers each December. Each year, 40,000 ...
IN CELEBRATION OF SURVIVING! My Story is not unlike any other cancer patient diagnosed with the words, ”You have cancer”. Stunning words you never want to hear. And then there they are. Real, shattering. Everything changes in an instant, for a lifetime. My first cancer occurred in 1990. It was a very rare one and I was 38 years old. The diagnosis was a soft tissue sarcoma, a liposarcoma. I would have an eight hour surgery and sacrifice five precious organs. I set out on a journey t...
Here at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), we hear from blood cancer patients and caregivers each day about the profound effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their cancer care, treatment, and daily lives. So many of us are eager for a vaccine so that we can protect ourselves and our loved ones and see a gradual return to normal. While it’s been an incredibly trying year, there are bright spots ahead as we look toward safe, effective vaccines on the horizon. While we may not have all ...
