About Us
Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
Dec 07, 2009... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—December 7, 2009—Although bone marrow transplants have long been standard for acute leukemia, current treatments still rely on exact matches between donor and patient. Now, scientists at the University of Perugia, Italy, and the Weizmann Institute of Science have improved on a method of transplanting bone marrow-based stem cells from a mismatched donor, making it safer for use when no exact match exists. They were invited to present their findings at the recent annual American Society of Hematology conference in New Orleans.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/time-to-rethink-chemotherapy/
Jun 14, 2012...
Leukemia cells dividing. Photo courtesy of Public Library of Science
For cancer patients undergoing treatment, the ups and downs can feel like living through one of those B-level movies where the zombies just never seem to die: Victories of remission can quickly end in disappointment as the cancer returns once more.
Why this happens has long puzzled scientists around the globe, but a new multi-center team in Israel whittles the problem down to the roots of where cancer begins.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/breakthrough-cancer-cure-has-deep-israeli-roots/
Feb 17, 2016...
Illustrative photo of a doctor with a cancer patient (cancer patient image via Shutterstock)
A breakthrough cancer study in which patients suffering from a form of leukemia saw their diseases go into remission after they were treated with genetically modified T-cells has deep roots in Israel.
One of the first in the world to work on the innovative adaptive immunotherapy technique to treat cancer, which was hailed Tuesday worldwide as a potentially “extraordinary” development, was Weizmann University Professor Zelig Eshhar. Speaking Wednesday on Israel Radio, Eshhar said he was very heartened to hear about the results of the study at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dec 04, 2018...
Early diagnosis of acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) paves the way for treatment. Image Credit: National Cancer Institute
A study of more than half a million blood samples has allowed scientists to pinpoint the risk factors for a rare type of leukemia, enabling them to predict if someone will develop the disease eight years before symptoms appear and opening the door to preventative treatments.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a rare cancer usually detected at an advanced stage. ‘It usually comes out of the blue,’ said Dr Liran Shlush of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. ‘Most patients survive just a few weeks or months after diagnosis.’
Mar 11, 2016...
Maybe you heard about it on NPR. Or the BBC. Or your local paper or news station. The world paid attention to the news that a novel cancer treatment is sending blood cancer patients into "dramatic remission."
This is just the latest thrilling progress in the treatment, which uses a patient’s own immune system to defeat cancer. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, which conducted the new trials, reports that "Twenty-seven out of 29 patients with an advanced blood cancer … experienced sustained remissions," and that "some of the patients in the trial, which began in 2013, were originally not expected to survive for more than a few months because their disease had previously relapsed or was resistant to other treatments," but "today, there is no sign of disease."
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/leukemia-and-lymphoma-research/
Sep 01, 2012...
According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, over the past 50-plus years survival rates for such cancers "have doubled and tripled, and in some cases quadrupled." Despite these advances, they say, "more than 1 million North Americans are fighting blood cancers, the third leading cause of cancer death." Among children, leukemia alone is responsible for 40 percent of cancer fatalities.
Fortunately, world-renowned researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science are actively investigating cancers of the blood-forming organs. Over half of all life sciences research at the Institute is focused on cancer, and Weizmann's unique multidisciplinary environment means that collaborative teams armed with the most advanced research tools, as well as with a massive body of institutional expertise, are bringing their considerable resources to bear on the unique problems posed by blood-related cancers.
Nov 01, 2016... Understanding Immunotherapy: History and Lifesaving Breakthroughs
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/new-hope-for-kidney-patients/
Sep 21, 2003...
For people suffering from fatal diseases, such as leukemia or kidney failure, the scarcity of available transplants is often the cause of feelings of hopelessness. Thousands of people in the U.S. alone languish on waiting lists, tied to dialysis tubing, hoping for the transplant that may save their lives.
But if there were a way to make transplants immediately and widely available to all who need them, suddenly, it would be something everyone could afford, and something that would be accessible to all.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/the-transformation/
Sep 15, 2014...
An experimental new drug can make some leukemic cells mature into healthier ones. Illustration by Brian Stauffer
For almost thirty years, William Kuhens worked on Staten Island as a basketball referee for the Catholic Youth Organization and other amateur leagues. At seventy, he was physically fit, taking part in twenty games a month. But in July of 2013 he began to lose weight and feel exhausted; his wife told him he looked pale. He saw his doctor, and tests revealed that his blood contained below-normal numbers of platelets and red and white blood cells; these are critical for, respectively, preventing bleeding, supplying oxygen, and combatting infection. Kuhens was sent to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in Manhattan, to meet with Eytan Stein, an expert in blood disorders. Stein found that as much as fifteen per cent of Kuhens’s bone marrow was made up of primitive, cancerous blood cells. “Mr. Kuhens was on the cusp of leukemia,” Stein told me recently. “It seemed that his disease was rapidly advancing.”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/leukemia-cells-are-addicted-to-a-healthy-gene/
Sep 29, 2013... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—September 29, 2013—What keeps leukemia cells alive almost forever, able to continue dividing endlessly and aggressively? New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests that, in about a quarter of all leukemias, the cancer cells rely on an internal “balance of terror” to keep going. When one version of a certain gene is mutated, it becomes a cancer-promoting gene – an oncogene. But the new findings show that the second, normal version of the gene, which functions alongside the mutation, is what keeps the cells both cancerous and alive, able to continue forging their destructive pathway in the body. This research appeared last week in Cell Reports.
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