Dartmouth Cancer Center

11/27/2025

This Thanksgiving, we are grateful for you.

To our patients, families, caregivers, clinicians, staff, and supporters—thank you for the strength, compassion, generosity, and hope you bring to each other every day.

Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful Thanksgiving, and time to pause, reflect and reconnect with what you value most.

11/26/2025

This holiday season, the Dartmouth Cancer Center’s (DCC) Healing Harvest program is helping to make mealtime a little easier for patients and their families.

Healing Harvest provides free, nutritious groceries to all DCC patients. During the holidays, volunteers put together an “Everything but the Turkey” Thanksgiving kit, filled with comforting sides such as cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and candied yams.

“The kits were a big hit last year,” says Healing Harvest program manager Julia Boger-Hawkins. “We wanted to take one thing off people’s plates—literally—so they could focus on rest, recovery, and spending time with loved ones.”

For patient Elizabeth Borowsky, the program brought both practical support and joy:

“When I first received my diagnosis, my immediate thought was, ‘I don’t have time for this,’” Borowsky shares. “Healing Harvest helped simplify my life and allowed me to focus on what was most important. The program reflects the same spirit of kindness and care I’ve experienced throughout my treatment.”

Learn more about Healing Harvest and other tips and advice for managing the holidays when time, energy, and appetite may be running low: https://cancer.dartmouth.edu/stories/article/managing-food-centric-holidays-during-cancer-treatment

11/25/2025

One week until Giving Tuesday on December 2. Support Healing Harvest at Dartmouth Cancer Center and help provide free, nutritious groceries to patients as they navigate the challenges of cancer treatment. Join the countdown to and make your gift before midnight on 12/2: https://dartgo.org/givingtuesday-dcc

11/24/2025

Lung cancer claims the lives of 127,000+ Americans every year. Only a small percentage of individuals get recommended screening tests.

Screening is the process of looking for cancer before any symptoms appear. When cancers are found early, before they have spread to other parts of the body, they are often easier to treat and have better outcomes.

Learn more about lung cancer screening at https://bit.ly/3AM86HS

11/18/2025

November is National Family Caregiver’s Month — a time to honor you who provide care with strength, compassion, and so much heart.

If you’re supporting a loved one and could use some connection, understanding, and encouragement, we invite you to join our ConnectShareCare Active Caring support group: https://connectsharecare.org/groups/

Why join Active Caring?
• A safe, welcoming space where caregivers share their stories and listen to others who truly get it.
• Tools and ideas to help you navigate challenges — because being a caregiver does not mean going it alone.
• A reminder that you matter, too — your well-being matters as much as the care you give.

Whether you’re new to caregiving or have been doing it for years, this group is for you. Let’s take a moment to support one another.

Please like, share or tag someone who might benefit — and remember: you’re not alone.

11/17/2025

Tomorrow, November 18, join the Community Outreach and Engagement team along with the Lung Cancer Screening team outside the Gift Shop (3rd floor of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon) for information and resources on lung cancer screening, to***co treatment, and radon.

Stop by to learn about lung cancer screening and to create your own quit kit for the American Cancer Society's Great American Smoke out, which is this Thursday (November 20).

11/15/2025

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month—an important reminder that early detection through screening saves lives. Dartmouth Cancer Center's Lung Health and Pulmonary Nodule Clinic brings together a multidisciplinary team of interventional pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, radiologists, and advanced practice providers to lead screening efforts for people at high risk. Advanced practice providers work closely with thoracic oncologists to review more than 1,300 patients each year. https://bit.ly/4qOcfAg

Complex cases are presented at our Comprehensive Thoracic Oncology Program (CTOP) Tumor Board, a panel that includes clinicians across multiple DCC sites. Ongoing innovations—such as the use of AI to improve the speed and accuracy of detection, blood-based early cancer detection tests, and mobile screening units that bring care to rural communities, are just some of the ways we are advancing our mission to reduce the burden of lung cancer in the populations we serve.

Comprehensive Thoracic Oncology team members at Dartmouth Cancer Center share their approach to care that improves outcomes for patients with pulmonary nodules and other lung-related concerns.

11/13/2025

When you receive an abnormal screening result, it can be incredibly difficult. But here’s the key message: an abnormal screening does not necessarily mean cancer.

About 10% of mammograms lead to additional imaging, yet only about 0.5% of those turn out to be cancer.

For lung screening in eligible adults, roughly 24% show a nodule—but 96% of those nodules aren’t cancer.

It’s normal to feel anxious while waiting for follow-up tests. Our specialists recommend scheduling additional imaging or evaluation as soon as possible so you’re not left wondering how long to wait. Know your screening schedule, understand what “abnormal” means in your case, and stay connected with your care team. Early detection and timely follow-up make a difference.

Hear more from our experts about abnormal results for 3 common screenings: https://cancer.dartmouth.edu/stories/article/what-happens-when-you-have-abnormal-cancer-screening

11/10/2025

Lung cancer is a deadly form of cancer. Regular screening can help find it early when it is easier to treat, but only 1 in 10 people at higher risk get screened. Talk to your doctor about getting screened for lung cancer if you:

• Are between 50-80 years old
• Currently smoke ci******es or have quit in the past 15 years
• Have smoked 20+ pack years. To calculate pack years, multiply the number of years you smoked by how many packs of ci******es you smoked per day.

Learn more about screening options available to you at https://bit.ly/3Z5KlnL

11/08/2025

📅 Today, November 8, is National Lung Cancer Screening Day — a day dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of early detection.

Dartmouth Cancer Center is proud to be one of many sites across our region hosting lung cancer screenings using low-dose CT scans, which can find lung cancer early when it’s most treatable. If you or a loved one is at high risk, a quick, painless screening could save your life.

Learn more about lung cancer screening, including answers to frequently asked questions. https://cancer.dartmouth.edu/lung-thoracic/lung-cancer-screening

11/04/2025

This week, NHPR reported on new study findings from researchers at Dartmouth that show rates of kidney cancer are higher in Merrimack, NH (https://bit.ly/4oVgdpd). As part of an ongoing drive to protect our communities, Megan Romano, PhD, a member of Dartmouth Cancer Center’s Cancer Population Sciences research program, is helping lead much-needed efforts to understand how environmental exposures may affect cancer risk.

In addition, Romano and fellow researcher Caitlin G. Howe, PhD, are leading a Prouty-funded pilot project that aims to find new ways to lower harmful cancer-linked PFAS chemical levels in the blood: https://cancer.dartmouth.edu/stories/article/where-do-prouty-donations-go-fall-2025-your-prouty-dollars-work

A study on kidney cancer rates released in October shows the rate of kidney cancer in Merrimack is 38% higher than in the rest of the state. The research is part of a long-term investigation that began with residents’ concerns about chemical exposure.

11/03/2025

Yoga is a powerful practice for both the mind and body. But you don’t have to twist yourself into a pretzel to feel relief. Traditional yoga can be challenging for anyone with physical limitations, fatigue, or balance issues that often come with cancer treatment. It can also look a bit intimidating if you’ve never tried it before.

That's why gentle chair yoga provides a wonderful starting point. By modifying traditional poses and using a chair for support, this form of practice allows you to stretch, strengthen, and move your body at your own pace in a way that feels comfortable.

In this video, certified yoga teacher Nicole Parker, LD, RD, RYT200, from Dartmouth Cancer Center's Complementary Care Program will guide you through a flow of easy and gentle seated yoga movements designed to reduce stress, increase flexibility and mobility and improve overall well-being. https://youtu.be/knUSmUOcQVs