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Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
Swim Across America raises $525,000 for cancer research at Dana-Farber, Mass General
Advertisement Originally, Mannion said, Boston's event took place on a boat in Boston Harbor, where swimmers would swim in heats in relay races towards Boston Light, the harbor's lighthouse. Swimmers head out at the start of the 1/2 mile swim during the 30th annual Swim Across America-Boston which was held Saturday morning in Pleasure Bay off Castle Island as over 150 swimmers took to the water to swim a course. The swim is a fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Mass General Cancer Center. The swimmers had the choice of 1/2 mile, 1 mile and 2 mile loop. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff After the pandemic, the group decided to relocate its annual swim to Castle Island in order to accommodate more swimmers. 'One of the things that I love about Boston is that the location is really unique,' Mannion said. 'You can see the entire city and you've got planes flying overhead.' Almost 200 swimmers and 100 volunteers participated in Saturday's swim, Mannion said. The Boston swim was able to fundraise $525,000, the organization said in a statement to the Globe. Since it began in 1996, Boston's Swim Across America event has raised over $8.5 million to support cancer research, according to the Advertisement Nationally, Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million since its founding in 1987, the Globe The money raised for Saturday's swim is split between Dana-Farber's Cancer Institute, the original beneficiary of the event, and Mass. General's Cancer Center, which partnered with Swim Across America nearly 12 years ago, Mannion said. Janel Jorgensen McArdle, chief operating officer of Swim Across America, said that at Mass. General, the fundraised money goes to a research team led by Dr. Bryan Choi to fund a At Dana-Farber, McArdle said, the fundraised money supports the hospital's adult McArdle, 'It became the highlight of my year every summer, just to be with these people,' McArdle said, 'The people that are involved with Swim Across America, it's all one big family.' At Saturday's swim, McArdle worked as an Angel Swimmer, using her Olympic skills to help others participate. As an Angel Swimmer, 'you go with someone that's maybe not so comfortable in the open water and you swim by their side and make sure they're ok,' McArdle said. 'We want everyone to have a great experience out there,' McArdle said, 'not only in knowing they're doing something that's going to be incredible in the course of the cancer world, but also, they're doing something incredible just as a community of people.' Advertisement Swimmer Sara Dieterich from Newtonville waits for the start of the 30th annual Swim Across America-Boston. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Days after his mother's cancer diagnosis in 2023, Dalton Sousa signed up for the Boston swim to raise money for cancer research — it was his way of 'giving back,' just as his mom had always taught him. Saturday morning, Sousa and about fifteen of his high school and college friends joined him in the water. The team completed a two-mile swim, which took them around 45 minutes. 'One day, I'd love to never have to swim again, because we finally found the cure,' he said. 'Until that point, we're going to be around to keep swimming and raising money.' This year, his team raised over $13,000, bringing his team's total over the three years to $63,000. Next year, Sousa hopes that the total will reach $100,000. 'The main goal is to raise money for cancer research. Everyone there is doing their best to have fun and just have an enjoyable experience,' he said. Mannion, Boston's event director, said that in addition to money raised by swimmers and teams, donations can be made on the 'It's always been about the people,' Mannion said, 'and it's always going to be about the people.' Globe Correspondent Jessica Ma contributed to this report.
Time of India
01-08-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Rectal cancer rate is rising in young people- what are the risk factors
Source: iStock Americans born in 1990 face quadruple the risk of developing rectal cancer compared to those born in 1950, according to a large-scale review published in the British Journal of Surgery. Conducted by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, the study found that early-onset gastrointestinal cancers increased by nearly 15% between 2010 and 2019. Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in men under 50 and second in women of the same age group. This surge isn't largely genetic. Instead, researchers point to environmental and lifestyle-related causes, which they refer to as a 'birth cohort effect.' Younger generations are more exposed to processed foods, sedentary routines, rising obesity, and chemical exposures, creating risk patterns not seen in prior decades. The impact also varies by community: Hispanic patients make up 22% of young stomach cancer cases, versus just 7% of older ones, while Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous groups face disproportionately high rates of early-onset colorectal cancer. Symptoms of rectal cancer As per the American Cancer Society, rectal cancer is often silent in its early stages, which can delay diagnosis. As the disease progresses, signs may include changes in bowel habits like diarrhea, constipation, or a frequent urge to pass stool. Patients may feel their bowels don't fully empty, or see bright red or dark maroon blood in their stool. Other warning signs are abdominal pain, narrow stool, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, and general weakness. Key risk factors for rectal cancer in young adults Excess body weight Obesity significantly increases the risk of developing and dying from colorectal cancer. The association is particularly strong in men. Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce this risk. Type 2 Diabetes People with type 2 diabetes face a higher likelihood of developing colorectal cancer, even after adjusting for obesity and inactivity. High insulin levels are believed to play a role. Unhealthy diet Long-term diets high in red or processed meats, like beef, hot dogs, or cold cuts, raise colorectal cancer risk. Low intake of vitamin D, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains also contributes. Smoking Tobacco use increases the likelihood of colorectal polyps and cancers. While often linked to lung disease, smoking is also a known risk factor for several gastrointestinal cancers. Alcohol consumption Even light-to-moderate alcohol intake can elevate colorectal cancer risk. Men are advised to limit alcohol to 2 drinks daily, and women to 1 drink. Age and birth cohort patterns Colorectal cancer is more common after 50, but rates are rising in younger people, likely due to lifestyle and environmental exposures not faced by earlier generations. Race and ethnicity As per the recent research, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous populations are disproportionately affected by early-onset colorectal cancer. The disparities likely reflect systemic health inequities and environmental factors. History of polyps or prior colorectal cancer Those with a past diagnosis of adenomatous polyps. especially if large or numerous, are at increased risk. Individuals previously treated for colorectal cancer are also more likely to develop new tumors. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Conditions like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease cause chronic inflammation, raising cancer risk. People with long-standing IBD may need earlier and more frequent screenings. Family history Having a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, or child) with colorectal cancer, particularly if diagnosed before 50, significantly raises one's own risk. Inherited syndromes Around 5% of colorectal cancer cases stem from inherited genetic mutations. Notable examples include Lynch syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), which greatly increase lifetime risk.
Time Business News
25-07-2025
- Health
- Time Business News
Breakthrough Innovations Transforming Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
Lung cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the lungs, often caused by smoking, exposure to pollutants, genetic factors or commercial threats. Lung cancer market is increasing due to growing global lung cancer rate, awareness and increase in screening programs, progress in clinical technologies (such as low -dosage CT scans and liquid biopsy) and increasing remedies and development of targeted remedies and immunotherapy. Additionally, better healthcare in aging population and emerging areas is promoting infrastructure and early detection and demand for effective treatment solutions. Key Growth Drivers and Opportunities Growing Global Lung Cancer Rate: Rising global lung cancer rate is a major driver of lung cancer market development, as it increases the demand for early identity, accurate diagnosis and effective treatment solutions. One of the major causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide with lung cancer, healthcare systems are making heavy investments in advanced screening tools such as low-dosage CT scans and biomarker-based diagnosis to enable the first diagnosis. At the same time, rising patient numbers are accelerating the development and adoption of innovative remedies including targeted drugs and immunotherapy. The burden of growing disease also attracts more research funds and industry investment, further fuel to market expansion. Challenges The lung cancer market faces several borders, including advanced diagnosis and high cost of targeted treatments, which can limit access to areas with especially low and moderate income. Delayed diagnosis also disrupts the results of treatment due to lack of awareness, limited screening programs and non-specific initial symptoms. Additionally, the challenge of complex regulatory routes, delayed stage patients, and the challenge of managing side effects from therapy disrupts the market growth despite technological progress. Innovation and Expansion EQUAL Study Launches High-Risk Group Lung Cancer Screening Trial In May 2025, Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have begun testing a new, in-house blood test in an effort to screen for lung cancer and identify those who are at a higher risk of developing the disease even if they have never used tobacco. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations can be common in the Asian and Hispanic/Latinx populations, which is the subject of the EQUAL (EGFR ctDNA Quantitative Assessment for Lung Cancer screening in Asian and Latinx populations) study. Possessing this mutation increases the risk of lung cancer because EGFR type mutations are linked to the illness. Additionally, the number of cancer diagnoses among Asian or Hispanic/Latinx individuals is increasing at a faster rate. With India's First LungLife Screening Program to Fight Lung Cancer, Apollo Cancer Centre Sets the Standard In March 2025, India's first LungLife Screening Program for early lung cancer diagnosis has been introduced by Apollo Cancer Centres (ACCs), a pioneer in state-of-the-art cancer care. Lung cancer, which makes up 5.9% of all malignancies and 8.1% of cancer-related deaths in India, is the target of this ground-breaking project. Early identification increases the survival rate and improves treatment results (LINK). Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) early screening can greatly increase survival chances and help with early diagnosis. However, almost 80% of high-risk patients have never spoken to their doctors about screening. To allow early detection and save lives, it is imperative to improve knowledge and communication regarding lung cancer screening, particularly among high-risk individuals. Inventive Sparks, Expanding Markets The key players operating the lung cancer market include AstraZeneca, Hoffman La Roche, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co., Amgen Inc., Novartis AG, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. About Author: Prophecy is a specialized market research, analytics, marketing and business strategy, and solutions company that offer strategic and tactical support to clients for making well-informed business decisions and to identify and achieve high value opportunities in the target business area. Also, we help our client to address business challenges and provide best possible solutions to overcome them and transform their business. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
CBS News
24-07-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Somerville woman survives 9/11, two cancers to ride first Pan-Mass Challenge
Almost 22 years after Kathy Ball-Toncic ran barefoot from the North Tower on 9/11, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While her team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute cannot, definitively, link her disease to the toxic dust she inhaled as she fled the World Trade Center site, she is part of the WTC Health Program. To date, it says more than 44,000 people who were exposed to the WTC site-on or after 9/11--have been diagnosed with cancer. In 2001, Kathy was commuting between Boston and New York and working on Wall Street. The morning of September 11, she had helped organize a conference at Windows On The World and was in a meeting in the lobby when the first plane hit the tower. At first, no one knew what had happened. She remembers a roar that sounded much like a subway train and flickering lights. She and her colleagues were standing up, pushing papers into their bags, when she heard a BOOM! She remembers the explosion and the glass shattering in businesses along the first-floor concourse. Kathy and her colleagues were "dressed up" for their meeting. In the moments after the explosion, one of them didn't feel that Kathy was moving quickly enough-probably because she was in shock. He urged her to take off her heels and run from the building. With bare feet, over broken glass, she did. Blocks later (she thinks they were about halfway to Broadway) they stopped. "We stopped and turned around just in time for the second plane to hit. And my memory of that morning is a little bit like a film that's missing a few frames," Kathey said. "But I vividly remember when we turned around and the building in flames... I pointed to it and said, 'We were in there.'" By the time the group arrived at their office, Kathy's feet were bleeding, and she was covered in a thin layer of dust. She remembers feeling fortunate to have escaped and that night, to have been able to return home to Boston. Processing the trauma of the attacks took a lot of intentional, emotional work. There was also a physical component to Kathy's emotional healing. After 9/11 Kathy, who'd been a runner for years, began running marathons for charity. "It really felt like a wonderful way to be able to give back, to do something meaningful," Kathy said. The 2002 Boston Marathon was her first. Running was a way to celebrate her health, nourish, friendships, process difficult emotions, and raise money for organizations she believed in. In 2014, the year after the Boston Marathon bombings, she ran for Dana-Farber. Her breast cancer diagnosis in 2023 was shocking enough. Kathy was treated at Dana-Farber for a full year. The following February, right around her birthday, she celebrated being cancer free. In a photograph with her son Henrik and daughter Maja, she is beaming as she holds a cupcake. That sense of elation, though, was short-lived. Two weeks later, she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. (Breast cancer and colorectal cancer are two of the almost-70 cancers that have been traced to 9/11 exposure.) She had surgery and chemotherapy. As someone for whom exercise and physical activity are so important, Kathy recalls her exhaustion at the end of 2024. "The chemo took everything out of me ... I remember lying on the couch thinking, I'm a business owner who's not working," Kathy said. "I'm a chef who can't eat. And I'm an athlete who can't make it up a flight of stairs who am I?" She answered that question by focusing, minute-by-minute, on healing and small victories. Knowing when to give herself grace. Knowing when to ask for help. "I'm someone who's fighting and I'm someone who is visualizing health and wellness," she said. During radiation, she visualized that the treatments were working. In early 2025, still healing from those treatments, Kathy knew that running a marathon was out of the question. But desiring a goal, she asked her doctor (Dr. Brandon Huffman) and physical therapist whether she could ride the Pan-Mass Challenge, an event to which she had donated for years. "They both emphatically said yes and were super supportive!" she said. Kathy, who works as an executive leadership coach and facilitator, is riding the two-day PMC route from Wellesley to Provincetown. She hopes, with some nervousness, that she will be able to ride the entire route. Those who know her have little doubt. Henrik is a registered volunteer in Bourne and Provincetown. Asked about his mother's decision to take on this new challenge on her bike, he says what she brings to the ride makes him proud. "Grit and determination and perseverance and love and honor and all these wonderful characteristics that make her who she is," Henrik said. While she does not miss cancer treatment, she does miss her team at Dana-Farber. "They are so extraordinary," Kathy said. "I think it's a part of cancer. People don't talk about a lot, that you finish your treatment.... And there's a bit of 'now what?' And you are not regularly seeing your care team." She says she will think about them while she is riding. Kathy is again cancer free. She has regular check-ups, and her team promises to watch her "like a hawk." The colorectal cancer she survived has a high recurrence rate. But she says smiling, "it doesn't know who it's messing with." A few weeks before the PMC, Kathy enjoyed an experience that offered a new feeling of community. Smiling and flexing a well-toned bicep in a PMC t-shirt at Fenway Park, she was among the Living Proof riders (cancer survivors) who rode the warning track and paused for the national anthem and a standing ovation. It was PMC Night at Fenway and the ballpark was full of fans. "They announced, 'These are the cancer survivors riding the PMC.' I almost wanted to look around and say, 'Who-like--who are the cancer survivors?' And it's like, it's me!" That realization came with a flood of emotions. "I burst into tears at first. And then I just, I thought I want to be here. I want to take this moment in." She now looks ahead to the ride and imagines it will feel like a victory lap. "It's a way to celebrate all the people that have supported me. It's a way to celebrate my health," she said. "And it's a way to do whatever I can to make sure people don't have to go through this by raising money for research." "We are all touched by this horrible thing called cancer," Kathy said.
Time Business News
24-07-2025
- Health
- Time Business News
Cutting-Edge Technologies in Lung Cancer Testing
A lung cancer diagnostic test is a medical procedure that is used to detect the presence of cancer cells in the lungs. These tests include imaging techniques (such as X-ray and CT scan), tissue biopsy, spit cytology, and advanced methods such as liquid biopsy and molecular tests to identify the type and phase of cancer. The growth of lung cancer diagnostic test market is inspired by increasing demand for personalized treatment based on the government's initiative for cancer screening and genetic profiling. Key Growth Drivers and Opportunities Rising Demand for Personalized Treatment: Increasing demand for personal treatment is significantly increasing the development of lung cancer diagnostic test market, as it requires accurate and wide diagnostic equipment to identify specific genetic mutations, biomarkers and cancer sub-types. Personal remedies, such as targeted drugs and immunotherapy, have greatly rely on accurate clinical consequences for tailor treatment schemes for individual patients. This has increased adopting advanced clinical techniques such as liquid biopsy, next generation sequencing (NGS), and molecular testing. Since healthcare provider and patients want more effective, less aggressive and sewn treatment approaches, the demand for high-collective clinical trials continues to promote market expansion. Challenges Lung cancer diagnostic test market faces many borders that can obstruct its growth and access. High costs associated with advanced clinical technologies such as PET scans, liquid biopsy and next generation sequencing make them less cheap in countries with less and moderate income. Additionally, delayed diagnosis in delayed diagnosis due to limited infrastructure, lack of efficient health professionals, and lack of awareness in the reduction of available tests. In some clinical methods, false positive or negative can also cause incorrect diagnosis, affecting the consequences of treatment. Regulatory barriers and variability in testing accuracy further limited widely adopting innovative clinical equipment in clinical settings. Innovation and Expansion An Innovative Lung Cancer Screening Trial for High-Risk Individuals has been launched by the EQUAL Study In May 2025, Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have begun testing a new, in-house blood test in an effort to screen for lung cancer and identify those who are at a higher risk of developing the disease even if they have never used tobacco. As lung cancer is becoming more common in younger people and among Asian or Hispanic/Latinx people who have never used tobacco, the team, led by the principal investigator and thoracic oncologist, associate director of Dana-Farber's Cancer Care Equity Program, designed the study. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations can be common in the Asian and Hispanic/Latinx populations, which is the subject of the EQUAL (EGFR ctDNA Quantitative Assessment for Lung Cancer screening in Asian and Latinx populations) study. Possessing this mutation increases the risk of lung cancer because EGFR type mutations are linked to the illness. Additionally, the number of cancer diagnoses among Asian or Hispanic/Latinx individuals is increasing at a faster rate. The LuNGS Alliance has launched a Free NGS Biomarker Screening Program for Lung Cancer In March 2025, For patients with lung cancer throughout India, the Cancer Research and Statistics Foundation (CRSF)-led LuNGS Alliance has announced free lung NGS biomarker testing. AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Roche support this program, and 4baseCare is the official lab partner. The initiative's goal is to raise awareness of precision oncology as a crucial, easily accessible, and reasonably priced therapy option for lung cancer. 4baseCare's TARGT First Solid test provides a thorough examination of 72 frequently mutated genes, revealing actionable biomarkers that allow for individualized treatment regimens based on each patient's own genetic profile. The test finds mutations that match FDA and NCCN-approved medications, enabling oncologists to offer more individualized, potent treatments that can greatly enhance patient outcomes. Inventive Sparks, Expanding Markets The key players operating in the lung cancer diagnostic test market includes Abbott, Illumina, Inc., Thermo Fischer Scientific, QIAGEN, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, NeoGenomics, NanoString, Myriad Genetics Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Danaher, Agilent Technologies, Inc., AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. About Author: Prophecy is a specialized market research, analytics, marketing and business strategy, and solutions company that offer strategic and tactical support to clients for making well-informed business decisions and to identify and achieve high value opportunities in the target business area. Also, we help our client to address business challenges and provide best possible solutions to overcome them and transform their business. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
