Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog
A blog featuring news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute.
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Following ASCO 2026, NCI Director Dr. Anthony Letai reflects on the pace of progress in cancer research, efforts to accelerate clinical trials, and NCI’s role in supporting the cancer research and care community. He highlights how decades of investment in science are driving progress for patients and creating new opportunities to improve outcomes.
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NCI Director Dr. Anthony Letai shares his reflections on this year’s AACR Annual Meeting, including science that stood out and NCI’s leading priorities.
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As diagnoses of colorectal, breast, and other cancers continue to climb in people under age 50, researchers are trying to understand what’s behind this phenomenon. Is it environmental exposures, genetics, lifestyle? The culprits, they say, remain unclear.
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Scientists have developed a test for use during brain cancer surgery that rapidly measures the levels of certain genetic mutations in patients’ tumor samples. The test uses droplet digital polymerase chain reaction technology and produces results within 15 minutes.
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A device that measures the “stickiness” of cancer cells in tumor samples may help predict the likelihood of a patient’s cancer metastasizing. Researchers believe the device could eventually help doctors make more informed treatment choices.
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FDA has approved the combination of the immunotherapy drugs ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) for the initial treatment of people with advanced colorectal cancer whose tumors are classified as MSI-H or dMMR.
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A subgroup of mesenchymal stem cells, called high-risk MSCs, appears to fuel the formation of cancerous lesions in the fallopian tubes and the lesions’ transition to ovarian cancer, a study has found.
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In small trials, personalized treatment vaccines appeared to prevent cancer from returning in patients who had successful surgery to remove their tumors. The treatments, which were created based on intensive analyses of patients’ tumors, appeared to be safe.
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Documented conversations on goals of care are uncommon in AYA patients with advanced cancer. Researchers found that many patients did not have these discussions until the last month of life, and many asked about palliative care.
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Some cancers come back many years after successful treatment, often as metastatic disease. Researchers believe if and how this happens is heavily influenced by dormant cancer cells and their interaction with the immune system.
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Researchers have developed a form of cancer treatment that uses fat cells engineered to aggressively consume nutrients like glucose. When implanted in mice, the engineered cells appeared to outcompete tumors for nutrients, shrinking tumors.
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FDA has approved zenocutuzumab (Bizengri) to treat people with pancreatic or non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have a rare genetic alteration called an NRG1 fusion. The approval is based on a clinical trial in which the drug shrank tumors in a third of patients.
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Results from a large NCI-funded clinical trial show that a comprehensive program that integrates intensive counseling and cessation medications may be a particularly effective way to help smokers being screened for lung cancer quit.
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For men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, initial treatment with enzalutamide (Xtandi) combined with talazoparib (Talzenna) may help them live longer than getting enzalutamide alone, according to updated results from a large clinical trial.
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Results from two clinical trials show that combining a procedure called TACE with an immunotherapy drug and angiogenesis inhibitor improves how long people with intermediate-stage liver cancer live without their disease returning or getting worse.
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Certain inherited genetic changes are likely involved in the development of some cancers in children, a new study shows. The changes, called structural variants, were linked with a small percentage of children with neuroblastoma, Ewing sarcoma, and osteosarcoma.
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An AI-based tool called SCORPIO more accurately predicted whether cancer patients’ tumors would respond to checkpoint inhibitors than currently available tests, a new study found. It also predicted how long patients would live after treatment.
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Unusual results from prenatal testing can indicate that the mother has cancer, a new study has found. The study also suggests that whole-body imaging as part of the follow-up on abnormal results can accurately identify these cancers.
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The injectable form of nivolumab, called Opdivo Qvantig, is quicker and easier to give, several oncologists said, and is just as effective as the intravenous form. Injectable forms of other immunotherapies are also on the horizon.
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Many U.S. doctors aren’t using the recommended initial treatments for their patients with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer, a new study has found. Often, it’s because they aren’t up to date on the latest treatment recommendations or because of side effect concerns.