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Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog

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A blog featuring news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute.

An illustrated banner to represent NCI's Cancer Currents research news blog. The design features interconnected scenes: a patient receiving care, a researcher in a lab, a tumor model, a laptop and mobile device displaying research articles, fitness activity, a clinical setting, and a researcher giving a scientific presentation. The background showcases rolling hills and abstract buildings.
  • A large group of Camp Fantastic participants poses outdoors with a white horse under leafy trees, with one person seated on a mobility scooter.
    Advancing Childhood Cancer Research: A Conversation with Dr. Brigitte Widemann
    • By Linda Wang

    In recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, NCI's Dr. Brigitte Widemann discusses recent advances in treatment, shared data, artificial intelligence, research participation, and survivorship. She explains why sustained federal investment and partnerships with patients, families, advocates, and researchers are essential to continued progress.

  • A large group of workshop attendees poses for a photo in a large meeting room. A screen behind them reads, “It’s session break time! We will return shortly.”
    Could Functional Precision Medicine Be the New Precision Oncology?
    • By Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D.

    Functional precision medicine tests drugs directly on living tumor cells to help clinicians identify the most effective, personalized treatments for their patients. NCI Director Dr. Anthony Letai shares his personal journey with the technology and highlights next steps for advancing the field from a recent NCI workshop.

  • Illustration of an immune cell attacking cancer cells, representing checkpoint inhibitor therapy
    How Decades of NCI Support Led to Groundbreaking Discoveries: The Story of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
    • By Linda Wang

    Immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer treatment, helping people with advanced melanoma, lung cancer, bladder cancer, and other cancers live longer, healthier lives. This is the story of how decades of NCI-funded research made these breakthrough immunotherapy drugs possible.

  • Dr. Anthony Letai stands at a lectern on a stage and addresses attendees filling rows of seats in a large conference hall.
    Reflections on Progress and Partnership at ASCO 2026
    • By Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D.

    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.

  • About 70 professionally dressed people smiling at the camera and standing in a semicircle in front of the NCI exhibit booth.
    Your NCI: Top Priorities from AACR 2026
    • By Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D.

    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.

  • A young man with dark black hair and beard, form fitting orange shirt, with his hands in front of him speaking with a doctor.
    As Rates of Some Cancers Increase in Younger People, Researchers Search for Answers
    • By Carmen Phillips

    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.

  • A picture from below of a lab tech wearing a mask, safety glasses, and blue gloves dropping materials from a pipette into a 64-well plate.
    Rapid Genetic Test Could Help Guide Brain Cancer Surgery
    • By Edward Winstead

    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.

  • A photograph of a square-shaped device with small channels, illuminated in white light with a large microscope hanging over top, that can measure the stickiness of tumor cells.
    Will This Cancer Metastasize? Check Its “Stickiness”
    • By Melissa Madden

    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.

  • Illustration showing proteins helping to repair DNA damage.
    FDA Approval Likely to Change Initial Treatment for Some People with Advanced Colorectal Cancer
    • By Carmen Phillips

    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.

  • An illustration of STIC lesions (small purple bubbles) in the fallopian tubes, with several then traveling to an ovary, and finally forming a tumor in the ovary.
    What’s at the Root of Ovarian Cancer? New Study May Have Found Part of the Answer
    • By Carmen Phillips

    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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