Senam Attipoe

January 19, 2018

G/T Independent Research

Annotated Source List

Alic, Margaret, PhD. "Cancer Genetics." The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders,
edited by Tracie
Moy and Laura Avery, 4th ed., vol. 1, Gale, 2016, pp. 303-308. Science in
Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3630400090/SCIC?u=elli85889&xid=166a43b
3. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017.

“Cancer Genetics” offers a lot of basic information about cancer. It discusses how, why,
and when it typically occurs and who is most susceptible. There are different types of cancer
genes. The first is called a proto-oncogene. They help regulate cell division but when it is
mutated, cancerous cells start to form and multiply uncontrollably. There are also tumor-
suppressor genes. They create proteins that help repair mutations and ultimately fight against
cancer. When they mutate, they fail to produce the correct proteins and allow tumors to grow. It
briefly discusses how genetic testing is beneficial for creating cancer treatments. Knowing
information about the genetic mutations in relation to cancer will help oncologists and
researchers because they will have some understanding of which genes are causing or allowing
cancerous cells to mutate and multiply. Once they are targeted with some form of treatment, the
cancer will stop spreading and will be easier to tend to.
This article, is very useful because it provides a lot of background information that is
necessary to understand more complex ideas about cancer. It is also helpful that vocabulary
terms are defined at the end of the article. There is no bias because all of the information
presented is factual and can be supported with research and evidence. The usage of this article
will be very effective in researching leukemia and undeveloped treatments.

+Regalado, Antonio. “Immune Engineering.” MIT Technology Review, vol. 119, no. 2,
Mar/Apr2016, p. 34. EBSCOhost
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=113441419.

This article starts with an anecdote about a 12-year-old girl with leukemia who has
seemingly tried every other treatment, including stem cell transplants, except for
immunotherapy. 5 months after the initial treatment, she was cured. The article also offers a
timeline of important events concerning immunotherapy.
The article is reliable and useful…

“Bone marrow (Stem cell) donation.” MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia,

medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000839.htm.
 This article explores the concept of stem cell transplantations (STC) as a treatment for
leukemia. It explains what a STC is and why a patient would undergo such a procedure. Stem
cell transplantations are also known as bone marrow donations and they are used to treat patients
with life threatening diseases or conditions such as leukemia. The bone marrow is a good source
for the transplantation because it contains stem cells that eventually develop into blood cells. The
source defines the different types of donations: autologous and allogenic. These terms define the
relationship between the donor and the receiver. “Auto” means self and “allo” means other. An
autologous transplant is when a patient uses stem cells from his or her own bone marrow. An
allogenic transplant is when a patient receives stem cells from a donor’s bone marrow. The
transplantation can occur in one of two ways- by surgically collecting the donor’s bone marrow
or by obtaining stem cells from drawn blood. For those who wish to pursue an allogenic
transplant, bone marrow registries have been set up to help patients find donors. The largest is
called “Be the Match.”
This source is relevant to leukemia treatment because it considers how effective this
treatment is for patients affected by leukemia. It is applicable because it directly discusses stem
cell transplants in great detail. The source is reliable because it is published by the National
Institute of Health, the United States National Library of Medicine. It does well to eliminate bias
by only considering objective facts.

Bourzac, Katherine. “Biology: Three known unknowns.” Nature, vol. 509, no. 7502, 2014,
doi: 10.1038/509s69a.

“Three Known Unknowns” is about three basic, yet complex, and seemingly
unanswerable questions that scientists should be asking themselves before advancing their
research in the cure for cancer. The three questions are “How can drug resistance be overcome?”,
“How are healthy tissues and genes involved?”, and “How does cancer spread?”. The journal
article also discusses the “intelligence” of tumors and cancer cells. When introduced to a drug,
the cells either die or use various strategies to survive. These strategies include, producing
protein pumps to flush out chemicals, increasing the rate of DNA repair, or using alternative
molecular pathways to restore blocked functions. In response to the first of the three questions,
researches are studying tumor genomes and mutations that aid in drug resistance. They are also
combining drugs to create a “cocktail treatment” much like the treatments for HIV (which has 9
genes while cancer has roughly 20,000). The article also introduces the issue of tumors staying
dormant for long periods of time, just to reactivate ten years later, for example, after the cancer
was thought to be “cured”; This process is called cancer dormancy. Quiescent cells are hard to
kill with treatments such as chemotherapy because it targets dividing cells, but these cells do not
participate in the normal, healthy cell cycle. In response to the second question, oncologists are
investigating the role normal cells have in the cell dormancy and activation process. Finally,
secondary tumors have been recognized as a major problem, as 90% of deaths by cancer are
caused by metastases (secondary tumors) that have developed in other parts of the body. These
cancer cells can escape their original site, travel across the body where levels of oxygen and
glucose differ, survive dormant for years, and then suddenly activate. This leaves scientists with
two questions: how can these cells survive in conditions so different from their original site? And
what is activating these cells years later? Many approaches have been are being created to study
these concepts. All of these sub-questions and research methods are in response to the third and
final question “How does cancer spread?”
This article was extremely useful and informative. The author makes an effort to reduce
bias as much as possible by providing evidence to support multiple opinions on subjective
information. This is very useful in researching leukemia because it provides a lot of information
on complex ideas that force the reader to consider multiple solutions to multiple problems.

+“Cancer: Immunotherapy Beats Leukaemia.” Nature, vol. 514, no. 7523, 23 Oct. 2014, p. 407.
EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1038/514407e.

This article is about many different things but there is a column about immunotherapy
and its success. Stephan Grupp and his colleagues of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania tested immunotherapy on a group of 30 people (25 children) and 27 of them went
into remission after one month.
This article, the column about immunotherapy, does well to eliminate bias as much as
possible by mentioning the negative effects of immunotherapy- by the end of two years, every
patient was hospitalized because of adverse inflammatory effects.

“Coenzyme Q10.” National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov/about-

cancer/treatment/cam/patient/coenzyme-q10-pdq#section/_3.

This article discusses the coenzyme Q10, also known as CoQ10, that is produced
naturally within the human body. The article defines key terms to help the reader understand
otherwise complex topics. A coenzyme helps enzymes speed up natural chemical reactions in the
body’s cells. The job of CoQ10 is to aid cells in the creation of energy that the cells use to grow
and stay healthy. It can also function as an antioxidant, purifying the body from DNA damaging
chemicals. DNA damage has been linked to cancer susceptibility. Though CoQ10 exists
naturally in the body’s tissues, different amounts can be found in different parts. Patients with
leukemia, among different cancers have low amounts in their blood. Because CoQ10 helps to
stimulate the immune system, it can be used as a form of cancer treatment and is considered a
form of immunotherapy. Studies show that the use of this coenzyme as an antioxidant may be
effective in the prevention of cancer cell growth.
Between the patient version and the health professional version, the article offers a lot of
information while avoiding an over usage of medical jargon, making it easy to comprehend. The
source is relevant to leukemia because it directly mentions cancer and the four different types of
leukemia specifically. It is applicable because it is about a type of immunotherapy that can be
produced naturally by the human body, but can be manufactured in a lab. The author does not
make a clear effort to eliminate bias; the article mainly explores the positive effects and uses of
CoQ10.
Greenwood, Veronique. "Immune Supercells Purge Leukemia." Discover Magazine,
2012. Accessed 4 Apr. 2018.

“Immune Supercells Purge Leukemia” introduces a new take on a recently introduced

treatments. CAR T, or chimeric antigen receptor therapy, consists of using the body’s white
blood cells to locate and attack cancer cells. However, because leukemia is a cancer of the blood
cells, typically white blood cells, this therapy was thought to be impossible for this type of
cancer. According to this article, oncologist David Porter and his colleague Carl June created a
variation of this therapy in an attempt to treat leukemia. Instead of using the T cells to attack
other cancer cells, as in breast cancer, they chose a protein that is found on the surface of B cells
and taught T cells to target the B cells. Normally T cells do not attack B cells, even when
cancerous, because they are recognized as part of the immune system. Three of the study’s
subjects had cancer that had survived treatment for years. Within four weeks of the immune
therapy, two of the three patients’ cancer was sent into remission while the third’s leukemia cells
had significantly reduced. Porter and June calculated that for every T cell injected, about one
thousand cancerous cells died.
This article is helpful because it provides evidence of a successful treatment that was
thought to be impossible for leukemia specifically. The article appears to be slightly biased
towards the researchers but does provide scientific evidence as well as harmful side effects of the
new therapy. The article is very explanatory and offers information about upcoming trials to
validate the previous findings as well as compare them to the findings of researchers who
conducted a similar study but produced less miraculous results.

ENGBER, DANIEL. “Body, Heal Thyself.” Popular Science, vol. 289, no. 6, Nov/Dec2017, p.
16. EBSCOhost.
Search.ebsco.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sch&AN=125580362&site=ehost-live.

“Body, Heal Thyself” is an article that discusses one of the newest and most effective
cancer treatments: gene therapy. In this process, doctors remove a patient’s T-cells, genetically
engineer them to recognize cancerous cells as dangerous, and then re-enter them into the
patient’s body and wait for the immune system to rid the body of any toxins or dangers. This
article specifically introduces a gene therapy called Kymriah which is the first to be approved by
the FDA and appear on the market. It was developed by a company called Novartis. The reason
this therapy is so revolutionary is because it trains the immune system to react a certain way to
cells that have been previously destroying the body. The newly trained immune system will
continue to fight days, weeks, and years after the procedure, allowing the body to remain in
remission for years rather than months, if not forever.
This article is relevant because it discusses a new treatment for leukemia. It is applicable
because it introduces a specific type of gene therapy that has finally been approved by the FDA.
The article is slightly biased towards the new therapy and only praises the process of
immunotherapy, while neglecting to mention the failed clinical trials or negative side effects.
Overall, however, the article will be very helpful in researching leukemia treatments.
+Keown, Susan. “93 percent of advanced leukemia patients in remission after
immunotherapy.” Fred Hutch, 25 Apr. 2016, www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-
news/2016/04/advanced-leukemia-remission-immunotherapy.html.

+Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. www.lls.org/treatment/types-of-treatment/

stem-cell-transplantation/graft-versus-host-disease. Accessed 16 Mar. 2018.

+Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. www.lls.org/http%3A/llsorg.prod.acquia-sites.com/

facts-and-statistics/facts-and-statistics-overview/facts-and-statistics.

“Leukemia.” University of Maryland Medical Center, 26 May 2014,

www.umm.edu/health/altmed/condition/leukemia.

This article discusses the types of leukemia as well as common symptoms of which
people should be aware. Symptoms include swelling in the liver, spleen, or lymph nodes. It
warns the readers who is most at risk and how one could decrease his or her risk. The article also
delves into what should be expected during the process of a diagnosis. A lumbar puncture will be
conducted to check for leukemia cells in the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal chord. The
piece also offers prevention strategies that are not commonly heard, such as “avoiding exposure
to certain chemicals such as benzene and nicotine.” The source discusses treatments and
procedures that are not as well known as such conventional therapies as chemotherapy or stem
cell transplants. This document discusses steroids, bone marrow transplants, and splenectomies
as treatment options. There are also therapies that will not necessarily treat the leukemia but will
help to alleviate symptoms. These include nutrition and dietary supplements as well as
acupuncture, which is becoming very widely recognized as an effective alternative intervention.
This article, published by the University of Maryland Medical Center, is very educational
and informative. It is very useful because it provides a lot of information that is not necessarily
standard or conventional. It is helpful because it provides information that could be used in my
research that is not discussed in other articles.

NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page. In Stem Cell Information [World Wide Web site].
Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2016 [cited January 10, 2018] Available at <
//stemcell.nih.gov/info/basics/1./htm>

This eight-page article discusses, in detail, the complexities and importance of stem cells.
The first page is the introduction which simply explores the basic questions “What are stem cells,
and why are they important?” Page two explores the unique properties of all stem cells while pages
three and four go into detail about the specific types of stem cells- embryonic and adult,
respectively. Page five considers the main similarities and differences between the two types of
stem cells; page six examines induced pluripotent stem cells; page seven asks and answers “What
are the potential uses of human stem cells?” while considering the obstacles. Finally, page eight
simply provides sources for more information. Stem cells are cells that have the potential to
develop into specialized cells such as blood cells or brain cells. They are important because
studying these cells could potentially reveal the cure to cancer or diabetes or the formula for
creating artificial organs. Using these cells to treat diseases is called regenerative or reparative
medicine.
This article is relevant because it discusses stem cells. It is applicable because the subject
is the basis of stem cell transplantation- a promising leukemia treatment. The article is slightly
biased. The facts included are only objective, but the author only includes information that
makes stem cells sound groundbreaking and incredibly promising.

+“MSK's One-Year Survival Rate after Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant.” Memorial Sloan
Kettering, 26 Mar. 2012, www.mskcc.org/blog/msk-s-one-year-survival-rate-after-allogeneic-
bone-marrow-transplant-exceeds-expectations.

“Overview of the Immune System.” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 3 Jan. 2018,
www.niaid.nih.gov/research/immune-system-overview.

This article is about the intricacies of the human body’s immune system. The function of
the immune system is to “prevent or limit infection”. The immune system determines that an
unhealthy cell has infiltrated the body by detecting danger cues on the cell. The danger cues are
called danger-associated molecular patterns or DAMPs. Another set of signals are released on
viruses and bacteria called pathogen-associated molecular patterns or PAMPs. When these
signals are recognized, the immune system is called on to attack. An autoimmune disease is
indicated by a failure to attack or by random attacks when there is not signal detected. The article
goes into detail about the different parts of the body that work together to make up the immune
system. These parts include the skin, which works to keep foreign, dangerous matters outside the
body; the bone marrow, which is the main source of stem cells that will eventually develop into
white blood cells; the lymphoid, or the tissue that produces antibodies; the bloodstream, where
the white blood cells live; the thymus, where T-cells are developed; the lymphatic system,
responsible for ridding the body of toxins; the lymph nodes, filters for foreign particles and the
indicators of an active immune system; the spleen, an organ located behind the stomach
responsible for producing and removing blood cells; and the mucosal tissue, an entry way for
immune hubs.
The article is relevant because it discusses the immune system; it is applicable because the
immune system is the main target for immunotherapy- the leukemia treatment. The author does
well in his or her elimination of bias because only objective facts are considered in this article.

Park, Alice. “Cancer’s Newest Miracle Cure.” TIME. Aug. 21 2017: 8. Print

This article provides three anecdotes about patients who received a rare cancer treatment.
The first was about a girl named Kaitlyn who was diagnosed with cancer, acute lymphoblastic
leukemia, at 18 months. Her cancer had survived many rounds of chemotherapy and her mother
and doctors decided that stem cell transplants were not worth the risk. It was finally decided that
Kaitlyn would become a subject in an experimental trial in the latest development in
immunotherapy. The other two anecdotes were about two 18-year-old boys who received the
same treatment: chimeric antigen receptor or CAR T. The method consists of using gene therapy
to train the patient’s immune system to recognize and fight off cancer cells. In these two boys’
stories, big clusters of cancer were destroyed simultaneously and they became ill with high
fevers. Doctors first took these fevers, as well as difficulty breathing, as signs that the treatment
was not working but it, in fact, turned out to be the opposite. When large amounts of cancer are
killed at once with this treatment, the immune system is fighting tremendously hard, resulting in
fevers and respiratory difficulties, among other “side effects”. CAR T was approved by an FDA
panel for further testing and is hoped to soon be able to treat other diseases among other cancers.
This source provides information on a new type of cancer treatment, chimeric antigen
receptor. This offers insight on a treatment that is even less known and less performed than stem
cell transplantations as a cancer treatment. This article is very informative because the anecdotes
offer a new understanding not only about the treatments but about everything cancer patients go
through.

Regalado, Antonio. “Biotech’s Coming Cancer Cure.” MIT Technology Review, 1 July 2015, pp.
1-10

“Biotech’s Coming Cancer Cure” discusses the recently discovered procedure that is
leading scientists towards a cure for cancer, at least for leukemia. Immunotherapy is an
increasingly popular therapy during which a patient’s T cells are removed, reengineered to see
cancer cells as an enemy, then re-entered into the patient’s veins. Whether engineered T cells
will be an effective treatment for different cancers is unknown, but the results for leukemia have
been so promising, almost miraculous, that over 31 companies are starting clinical tests. Two
relatively popular companies, Juno and Novartis, have been given a breakthrough destination by
the FDA, meaning that their leukemia treatments could be completely approved after one more,
larger clinical trial.
This magazine article from MIT is definitely useful in studying alternative leukemia
treatments. Not only does it provide real statistics about success and survival rates, but it
provides pictures that help to visually explain the process of T cell engineering. It also provides
information about the negative side of this treatment that other articles do not provide. Other
sources describe this treatment as nothing short of a miracle but MIT is sure to eliminate bias as
fully as possible, as they explain that while the T cells fight cancer, many patients develop
cytokine release syndrome, which, MIT admits, has already killed seven patients. This article is
applicable because it relates directly to leukemia treatments.

Regalado, Antonio. “Immune Engineering.” MIT Technology Review, vol. 119, no. 2,
Mar/Apr2016, p. 34. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login,aspx?dirext=true&db=f5h&AN=113441419&site=ehost-live.
 “Immune Engineering” starts with an anecdote about a 12-month old girl with leukemia.
She and her parents tried every treatment imaginable save for one: immunotherapy. The
biotechnology company that owned the treatment, Cellectis, had not gotten it approved yet. The
girl, Layla, was not part of a clinical trial. The doctors at Layla’s hospital helped to declare her a
special patient which meant that she could receive the treatment even though she was not part of
a clinical trial. Cellectis began developing the treatment in 2011 and it has been tested in over
300 patients. After overwhelming success, often resulting in complete remission, dozens of drug
and biotechnology companies started to work on bringing an immunotherapy treatment to the
market. The article describes immunotherapy- Cellectis found a way to gain control over T cells.
A “timeline of engineering immunity” is featured close to the end of the article. The timeline
starts 500 million years ago and ends in 2016. Major achievements and advancements are
included such as the first vaccine in 1796 and the first successful use of gene therapy in 2000.
This article is helpful because it provides applications to the definitions. It gives an
anecdote about a patient who received the treatment and it also discusses the biotechnology
company that developed it. It is applicable because it directly relates to the topic of
immunotherapy. It is relevant mainly because of its publication date. All the factual information
provided in this article is relatively up-to-date. The author eliminates bias by ensuring that the
article is entirely factual.

Sides, Hampton. “Childhood Leukemia Was Practically Untreatable Until Dr. Don Pinkel and St.
Jude Hospital Found a Cure.” The Smithsonian, July 2016.

This article recounts two stories. The first is about a young girl, Barbara, about 5 years
old, who was diagnosed with leukemia. Her condition was thought to be almost 100% fatal but
her parents, desperate for any solution, took her to be treated at St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital. The second story is about the founding of the hospital and its first medical director, Dr.
Don Pinkel. These stories combined in 1968 when Dr. Pinkel had the idea to use multiple
different chemotherapeutic drugs at the same time to attack cancer-stricken cells from different
sides. His theory was that cells reacted differently to different medications and rather than using
a monotherapy medication regimen, he attempted to kill all the cancer cells at once. This
treatment sent Barbara, and many others, into remission and she was released from the hospital
in Memphis and sent back home to a small town in Mississippi. The results of this treatment
surprised patients, parents, doctors, and even Dr. Pinkel- it yielded a 50% cure rate. He called
this treatment “Total Therapy” and it is because of this therapy that he has won so many awards,
including the American Cancer Society’s award for Clinical Research. This is also a main reason
that the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is so well renowned.
This article is helpful because it offers an inside perspective on creating new treatments.
The author eliminates the majority of any existing bias by offering multiple points of view on a
complex issued. It will be useful in researching leukemia because it provides the background
information of a major success story.
sSiegel, David A., et al. “Rates and Trends of Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia –
United States, 2001-2014.” MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 66, no.
36, 15 Sept. 2017, p. 950. EBSCOhost, doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6636a3.

This article is a composition of statistics about Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

and its prevalence in children. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed
data from 2001 to 2014, collated by the United States Cancer Statistics, which described
susceptibility, survival rates, as well as breakdowns by race, age, and sex. There are over 3,000
new cases of ALL each year in people under 20 years old. For unknown reasons, ALL is most
prevalent in Hispanics (49.1 to 1 million people). The United States Cancer Statistics data comes
from the CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries and the National Cancer Institute’s
Surveillance, as well as the Epidemiology, and End Results programs.
The article is relevant because it provides recent statistics about leukemia that is pertinent
to the American population. It is applicable because it provides a lot of insight about why some
treatments would work for some groups, but not others. The first page is formatted in
paragraphs; the following pages are compiled of much of the same statistics but are formatted as
charts and graphs which make it easier for the reader to comprehend. These charts and graphs
show characteristics such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, and region of the United States. They show
incidences of ALL in thousands and breaks down the numbers by years. Because the entirety of
the article is based on number and statistics, there is no evidence of bias.

Stenson, Jacqueline. “To Bank or Not to Bank.” Fit Pregnancy. Aug/Sep2012, p. 68.
EBSCOhost.Search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=78002792&site
=ehost-live.

“Stem Cell Transplantation in children” describes the normal, healthy process of blood cell
production, otherwise known as hematopoiesis. This process, like many other cell production
processes, begins with stem cells in the bone marrow. After defining a stem cell transplant, the
article then describes three reasons a child would need this procedure: malignancies, disease of
the bone marrow, and metabolic disorders. There are three defined sources for stem cells. If they
are given to a patient from another person, it is an allogeneic transplant. If the cells come from an
identical twin sibling, it is a syngeneic transplant. If the cells are collected from the patient, it is
considered an autologous transplant. The availability of the type of transplant varies depending
on the child’s condition and rationale for getting a transplantation. For example, if the patient has
a sort of disease of the bone marrow, an allogeneic transplant is the only option. The article then
delves into the process of the transplantation. Simply, the patient and donor, if applicable, are
evaluated; conditioning therapy occurs to treat any malignancy in the stem cells; the stem cells
are infused. Following the procedure, there is risk of infection and other adverse effects; the
patient is to be observed carefully.
This article is helpful because it provides information about stem cell transplantations and
hematopoiesis. It is applicable because it discusses stem cell transplantations, but it is not as
relevant because it does not explicitly mention leukemia, only general cell malignancy. The
author does well eliminating bias by making sure that the information provided in the article is
factual and discusses both positive and negative aspects of the procedure.

Stöppler, MD Melissa Conrad. “Leukemia Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Types & Survival
Rate.” MedicineNet, WebMD, www.medicinenet.com/leukemia/article.htm.

This article discusses the different types of leukemia, a cancer of the blood, as well as its
symptoms, causes, and treatments. There are two classifications of leukemia. The first is based
on how the disease develops and is either acute, meaning the disease spreads rapidly, or chronic,
meaning the cancer develops more slowly over a longer period of time. The second classification
depends on the type of blood cell that has become cancerous. Myeloid leukemia is caused by a
dysfunction in myeloid cells, while lymphoid leukemia is caused by a dysfunction in lymphoid
cells. The four most common types of leukemia are Acute Lymphocytic, Acute Myeloid,
Chronic Lymphocytic, and Chronic Myeloid. The article then considers the causes of leukemia
and explores the possibility of hereditary-induced leukemia. Finally, this document discusses risk
factors, symptoms, and treatments including chemotherapy, biological therapy, targeted therapy,
radiation therapy, stem cell transplants, and medication.
This material provides a lot of useful information about leukemia. Some of this
information is basic knowledge, such as vocabulary terms and symptoms, while other
information is more detailed and complex, such as the complications and prognosis of leukemia.
This source is very informative and will be useful in taking my research further because it
provides new information about cancer and peaks my interest in a certain type of cancer.

The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. “Stem Cell Transplantation.” (2015). Web 21 Sep
2017

This article discusses how stem cell transplants are an increasingly popular and effective
method in treating diseases that damage or destroy bone marrow by replacing damaged or
destroyed cells with healthy stem cells which can be harvested from bone marrow, peripheral
blood, and umbilical cord blood. There are two types of transplants that are performed most
often: autologous, which is when one’s own stem cells are harvested then returned to the same
patient’s body, and allogeneic which is when stem cells from a donor are transplanted into a
patient’s body. Human Leukocyte Antigen tests have been developed for matching tissue types;
this reveals patient-donor compatibility. Standard preparation for this procedure involves ridding
the patient’s body of diseased or otherwise damaged cells and weakening the immune system so
that it does not reject the new, foreign stem cells. When the patient is finally released s/he is to
be closely monitored for months in order to avoid transplant-related diseases and other side
effects.
This article, published by the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, provides a thorough and
detailed description of the process of a stem cell transplant. Though cancer is not explicitly
mentioned in the article, stem cell transplants are becoming an increasingly common cancer
treatment method. This scholarly article is very informative and it is helpful in furthering
research because it peaks curiosity about other alternative, and possibly overlooked or
understudied cancer treatments.

Weintraub, Karen. “The Cancer Defense: .” Scientific American, pp. 42-51.

In “The Cancer Defense”, the article offers two anecdotes to support the claim that
immunotherapy is becoming as effective and well known as radiation or chemotherapy. In an
effort to answer whether or not immunotherapy works for cancers other than leukemia, the
anecdote about Michelle Boyer states that the treatment cured her melanoma, a fatal skin cancer.
The article also acknowledges that though this is only the beginning, life expectancy for cancer
patients has risen from months to years, thanks to T cell engineering. The source then discusses
the origins and development of immunotherapy. In the late 1900s, physician William Coley
injected his cancer patients with bacteria in an attempt to jumpstart the body’s natural healing
process. He ultimately failed, but he left behind an idea that would eventually become
revolutionary.
This article is relevant because it discusses immunotherapy, a treatment for leukemia.
However, it is not entirely applicable because it does not discuss leukemia specifically. This
cancer is only briefly mentioned. The article also seems to rapidly switch topics, from anecdotes
to a timeline of immunotherapy, from official approvals to costs of treatment, this article is
poorly organized. It also does not showcase any attempt to reduce bias. The end of the article is
formatted as list, but does not expand thoroughly upon the items in the list. This article will not
be useful in researching leukemia treatments.

YouTube, 15 Nov. 2016, youtu.be/Acd_puVVR8c.

This 12-minute video is formatted as an interview between an immunotherapy

patient and her doctor. Stefanie, the patient, was diagnosed with Stage 2-B colon cancer that had
metastasized into her abdominal cavity. She had gone through many different treatments
including therapy and three different chemotherapy regimens. Stefanie’s doctors finally told her
that she was out of options (at their specific institution). She ultimately reached out to two
different doctors who treated her with immunotherapy. The video is divided into four sections:
“Stefanie’s Story”, “Challenges of Therapy”, “Done Therapy”, and “The Future.” At the time of
the video’s publication, Stefanie was NED (no evidence of disease) and had been an
immunotherapy patient for 2 years. Stefanie thanks the doctor for saving her life. She gained
weight and color returned to her face; she now walks steadily again and is cancer free.
This video is very useful because it offers a firsthand account of immunotherapy from the
perspective of someone who has been treated with it. It is relevant because it discusses
immunotherapy and is applicable because it offers a perspective that is often ignored or
overlooked- the patient’s. The video also does well in its elimination of bias by discussing the
fact that not every patient’s experience with immunotherapy is as wildly positive as Stefanie’s.
YouTube, 24 June 2016, youtu.be/dVn9zEYiKM4.

This three-minute video is short but dense. Dr. Gershenhorn from Cancer Treatment
Centers of America sits in front of the camera and explains the concept of immunotherapy to the
intended audience- members of the general public who are curious about cancer and its
treatments. Immunotherapy is a treatment that is very different from standard treatments because
it does not introduce harmful substances to the patient’s body. It, instead, trains the body’s
immune system to recognize the cancer cells as dangerous and attack them using the body’s
natural abilities. Immunotherapy is given to the patient intravenously every few weeks. Dr.
Gershenhorn makes the concept of immunotherapy easier to understand with an analogy in
which he compares the immune system to the police force and the cancer cells as bad guys who
disguise themselves as good guys in order to hid from the police.
The video is very useful because it provides a basic definition of immunotherapy. It is
relevant because it discusses immunotherapy very closely; it is applicable because the
information comes from a doctor from Cancer Treatment Centers of America. The article does
not do well in its effort to eliminate bias. The doctor, who conducts immunotherapy treatments,
obviously thinks well of the treatment or he would not conduct it. He revels that it is “extremely
effective” but does not discuss any adverse effects. He does, however, admit that not all of the
long term effects are known because of how new immunotherapy is.