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Lewis Silverman, MD  Children's logo  Harvard logo
 Lewis Silverman, MD
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   Department  Hematology/Oncology
   Hospital Title  Medical Director,
Pediatric Oncology Clinic
Chief, Pediatric Hematological
Malignancies Service
   Academic Title  Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
   Phone  617-632-6191
   Fax  617-632-4811
   Email  Lewis Silverman
   Location  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
44 Binney Street
Boston MA 02115
Research Overview

Dr. Silverman's major research focus is in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He is protocol principal investigator for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) ALL Consortium, which has been conducting clinical trials in childhood ALL for over 30 years. The DFCI ALL Consortium consists of 8 institutions in the United States and Canada who collaborate on treatment protocols for children ALL, with the goal of improving survival while minimizing toxicity. Dr. Silverman oversees these studies, which have yielded the best event-free survival rates published for children with ALL.

A major focus of Dr. Silverman's research in the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium has been to improve the tolerability of asparaginase, an important chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of childhood ALL. The group has conducted a series of randomized trials comparing different asparaginase preparations and dosing in in order to reduce dose-related toxicities without compromising efficacy.

Silverman and colleagues have also studied the effect of doxorubicin, another chemotherapeutic agent, on cardiac function in children with ALL. In a randomized trial, patients received doxorubicin either with or without dexrazoxane, a potential cardioprotectant agent. They serially measured troponin T, a marker of cardiac injury detectable in the blood. Significantly fewer patients who received dexrazoxane had elevations of troponin T, and those who did had notably lower elevations, suggesting that this agent might have prevented cardiac damage in these patients. Event-free and leukemia-free survival rates were similar in the two groups of patients. They will continue to monitor the cardiac function of these children by echocardiograms.

About Lewis Silverman
Dr. Silverman received his MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed an internship and residency at Children's Hospital Boston and a fellowship at Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is currently Medical Director of Pediatric Oncology Clinic (Jimmy Fund Clinic) at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Key Publications
  • Silverman LB, Gelber RD, Kimball Dalton V, Asselin BL, Barr RD, Clavell LA, Hurwitz CA, Moghrabi A, Samson Y, Schorin MA, Arkin S, Declerck L, Cohen HJ, Sallan SE. Improved outcome for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: results of Dana-Farber Consortium protocol 91-01. Blood 2001; 97: 1211-1218.

  • Strauss AJ, Su JT, Kimball Dalton V, Gelber RD, Sallan SE, Silverman LB. Bony morbidity in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2001; 19: 3066-3072.

  • Goldberg JM, Silverman LB, Levy DE, Dalton VK, Gelber RD, Lehmann L, Cohen HJ, Sallan SE, Asselin BL. Childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia: the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute acute lymphoblastic leukemia consortium experience. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2003; 21:3616-22.

  • Lipshultz SE, Rifai N, Dalton VM, Levy DE, Silverman LB, Lipsitz SR,Colan SD, Asselin BL, Barr RD, Clavell LA, Hurwitz CA, Moghrabi A, Samson Y, Schorin MA, Gelber RD, Sallan SE.The effect of dexrazoxane on myocardial injury in doxorubicin-treated children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. New England Journal of Medicine 2004; 351:145-53.
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