Alumni Pediatric Cancer Blood Cancer Leukemia
A teenager’s leukemia struggle – and his mature attitude through his arduous treatment – impressed his University of Colorado Cancer Center medical team and spurred his mother to launch a foundation to raise money for cancer research. And now that struggle is providing inspiration for a cycling team as it prepares for the 2024 Courage Classic Bicycle Tour fundraiser for Children’s Hospital Colorado.
It was time to move closer to family.
It was spring of 2020, and Codie Mendez was still grieving the loss of her brother, a California State Patrol officer who had been killed in the line of duty several months earlier. Adding to that the stress and the uncertainty of the rapidly developing COVID-19 pandemic, Codie and her husband, Mark, decided to move their family from Florida to Colorado to be closer to Mark’s parents.
Things were supposed to be easier, more comfortable.
But that wasn’t how it turned out.
Patient Care Blood Cancer Leukemia
Matt Lubick had finished marathons before, but none was so personally meaningful as the 26-mile distance he covered in one day while being treated for leukemia at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. Lubick walked dozens of laps around the facility, wheeling his IV pole up and down the corridors as day slowly turned to night outside the tall glass windows.
Patient Care Community Leukemia
When your life is about being outdoors — about making your way up and around complex rock formations, looking for that flow you get into as every foothold and ledge reveals itself — the last place you want to be is stuck in a hospital bed, enduring the side effects of chemotherapy.
New research conducted in the lab of University of Colorado Cancer Center co-deputy director James DeGregori, PhD, may explain why acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells that reside in the bone marrow are more resistant to medication than AML cells found in the blood and elsewhere in the body.
Community Blood Cancer Leukemia Multiple Myeloma
September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month, a time for bringing attention to leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, Hodgkin’s disease, and other blood cancers.
Research Pediatric Cancer Blood Cancer Leukemia Clinical Trials
As part of its ongoing efforts to eradicate childhood cancers, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has awarded University of Colorado Cancer Center member Kelly Faulk, MD, a St. Baldrick’s Scholar grant to investigate a new method for treating infant leukemia.
Research Blood Cancer Leukemia
In research that reinforces the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s longstanding relationship with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), CU Cancer Center member Lauren Nicholas, PhD, MPP, is co-principal investigator on a new LLS-funded study to examine the role of Medicare plan selection in dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis.
Community Leukemia Clinical Research Drug Development
University of Colorado (CU) Cancer Center researchers have been on the leading edge of developing new therapies for leukemia. One of the most recent breakthrough therapies has been the development of venetoclax, a B-cell lymphoma-2 inhibitor, that that has shown profound results for adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and has become a standard of care for patients with this disease all over the world.
Research Pediatric Cancer Leukemia
University of Colorado Cancer Center member M. Eric Kohler, MD, PhD, was awarded a three-year, $270,650 Young Investigator Grant from CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, in partnership with the SebastianStrong Foundation, to develop a new treatment approach for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rare blood cancer in children.
Comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Norm MacDonald died Tuesday, after what his brother, Neil MacDonald, described as a nine-year battle with acute leukemia. Norm MacDonald, known for his intelligence and sarcastic wit, was 61.
Patient Care Blood Cancer Leukemia Magazine Clinical Trials
Siri Lindley couldn’t swim. She had never learned how and the idea of competing in a triathlon seemed completely out of the question.
Research Pediatric Cancer Blood Cancer Leukemia Magazine
M. Eric Kohler’s commitment to both cancer research — particularly CAR T-cell therapy — and clinical care make him a double threat when it comes to battling pediatric blood cancer.
Research Blood Cancer Leukemia Magazine
Craig Jordan, PhD, has spent more than 20 years developing better treatments for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow that can spread to other parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen and central nervous system.
Research Blood Cancer Leukemia Magazine
Thanks in large part to early work by investigators at the CU Cancer Center, patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a new treatment option that has fewer side effects and has been shown to increase longevity.
Patient Care Community Faculty Leukemia
The day before Joel Rutstein planned to leave for a week-long trip to Hawaii with his wife, Barbara, and their grown children, an oncologist in Fort Collins gave Joel bad news.
Patient Care Leukemia Clinical Trials
Clinical trial results published in the journal Nature Medicine show 91 percent response rate to the combination of venetoclax with azacitidine in older adults newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Of 33 patients given combination venetoclax and azacitidine, 20 experienced a complete response (aka complete remission) and eight experienced a complete response but with continued low blood counts. Of the three patients who did not respond to treatment, two discontinued the study before the first week due to personal reasons unrelated to treatment or side-effects.
Cancer needs energy to drive its out-of-control growth. It gets energy in the form of glucose, in fact consuming so much glucose that one method for imaging cancer simply looks for areas of extreme glucose consumption – where there is consumption, there is cancer. But how does cancer get this glucose? A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal Cancer Cell shows that leukemia undercuts the ability of normal cells to consume glucose, thus leaving more glucose available to feed its own growth.
Cure Today
July 12, 2024
University of Colorado Cancer Center member Dr. Steven Thorpe emphasizes the collaborative nature of treating soft tissue and bone sarcomas, highlighting the multidisciplinary efforts at CU School of Medicine's Department of Orthopedics and Children’s Hospital Colorado. He underscores the goal of not only curing the disease but also preserving function through advanced surgical techniques and modern therapies, ensuring patients maintain quality of life post-treatment. Thorpe stresses the importance of long-term outcomes, tailoring treatments to support patients’ aspirations beyond their cancer journey, especially for pediatric cases.
OncLive
July 08, 2024
CU Cancer Center member S. Lindsey Davis, MD, highlighted that the combination therapy of sapanisertib and alisertib showed marginal clinical benefit for patients with advanced solid tumors, correlative analyses suggested that apoptotic response and tumor immune cell infiltrate might influence clinical outcomes. The phase 1b study's expansion cohort indicated some positive outlying responses among patients and underscore the need for further research to tailor treatments for standout patients and explore rational combinations to enhance efficacy.
News Medical
June 19, 2024
A new study led by University of Colorado Cancer Center member Marco Del Chiaro, MD, PhD, reveals that nearly 5% of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients achieved a pathological complete response (pCR) after pre-surgical chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. This significant finding indicates that patients with pCR have a 63% five-year survival rate, compared to 30% for those without pCR, suggesting the potential for tailored treatments to improve outcomes.
Cancer Network
June 14, 2024
In a conversation at the 2024 European Hematology Association Congress, CU Cancer Center member Manali Kamdar, MD, discussed potential future research on lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; Breyanzi) for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and other lymphoma subgroups. She highlighted findings from the phase 1 TRANSCEND NHL 001 trial, noting improved efficacy and safety in patients with fewer prior therapies and non-refractory disease, suggesting liso-cel's utility in earlier treatment lines and specific lymphoma subgroups.
Mark Harden
