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Read our latest stories on the people and scientific innovations making a difference in patients’ lives.
Science & Innovation
How AI Is Already Reshaping Cancer Care
When treating cancer, few things are more precious than time. Jeanine Bortel, Vice President and Head of AI Portfolio Development at Pfizer, who has developed clinical trials at Pfizer for more than two decades, remembers when she first witnessed the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) put into practice to help address the needs of patients enrolled in cancer clinical trials.For years, Bortel’s work had run up against an inherent challenge: Many cancer patients miss out on...
Science & Innovation
As Colorectal Cancer Rises in Younger Populations, Research and Education is More Important than Ever
At one time, colorectal cancer was a disease associated with older adults. Now, it’s considered the most deadly cancer in people younger than 50.1Even as deaths from the other most common cancers (breast cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer and leukemia) have fallen by 44% over a 30-year-period, according to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer deaths have increased 1.1% per year in younger people since 2005.1 It’s a development that’s alarming—and mystifying—healthcare providers and...
Real People
'Science Has Kept Me Here': How Biomarker Research is Shaping the Future of Cancer Care
Debbie Pickworth developed a cough she couldn’t shake after a bout with bronchitis. She went to see her doctor multiple times, explaining that she was struggling to breathe, but nothing seemed to help.Then, tests revealed the unthinkable: Debbie had lung cancer. She was 43 years old.Lung cancer was nothing new to Debbie’s family. Just 16 years earlier, her mother died from the same disease; her grandmother also died from lung cancer. Now, Debbie was afraid she was on the same path. She thought...
Science & Innovation
Pursuing the Next Breakthrough in Cancer Cachexia
Cachexia, a complex wasting syndrome, impacts an estimated 9 million people worldwide.[i] In people living with cancer, cachexia can diminish the tolerance of therapies and is linked to reduced survival rates. Currently, there are no FDA-approved treatments targeting its underlying cause.Over time, the way researchers and physicians understand cachexia has evolved, with growing focus on uncovering the biology behind this devastating disease.In an effort to address a critical gap in care and help...
Real People
How One Woman with Multiple Myeloma Found Strength—and Gratitude—in Adversity
September’s Blood Cancer Awareness Month is a time to raise awareness of hematologic cancers and share the stories of those living with the diseaseIn 2017, Lynce Lucas hadn’t been feeling well for several months and was dealing with some fractured ribs. But when she woke up one morning struggling with the ability to walk, she knew something more was wrong.Lynce was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which at the time she didn’t know much about. “They told me that multiple myeloma was cancer, it...
Purpose & Ideals
Why Medicine Flavor Matters in Drug Design, Especially for Kids
Medicines don’t work unless people take them. It sounds like an obvious statement. And yet, a large percentage of people—up to 50%1 even—struggle when it comes to swallowing medications. Medicine flavoring has been a big part of the problem. For more than a decade, Jeremy Bartlett, Ph.D., a Research Fellow with Pfizer Drug Product Design in Groton, Connecticut, has been working to solve that problem. “We work in pharmaceutical sciences, and if we develop a medicine you’re supposed to take and...
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