Prevention - Cancer Currents Blog
Cancer prevention news, with comments from leading scientists. Topics include preventive interventions for those at increased risk of cancer, protective behaviors, and more.
-
Prostate Cancer Prevention and Finasteride: A Conversation with NCI’s Dr. Howard Parnes
The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial showed that finasteride can reduce the risk of prostate cancer, but might increase the risk of aggressive disease. NCI’s Howard Parnes talks about subsequent findings and what they mean for men aged 55 and older.
-
Could a Vaccine Prevent Colorectal Cancer in People with Lynch Syndrome?
Findings from an NCI-funded study suggest a new vaccine approach may have the potential to prevent colorectal cancer in people with Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that increases an individual's risk for developing certain types of cancer.
-
Fewer Women with Ovarian, Breast Cancer Undergo Genetic Testing than Expected
Many women diagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer are not undergoing tests for inherited genetic mutations that can provide important information to help guide decisions about treatment and longer-term cancer screening, a new study has found.
-
UK Clinical Trial Compares E-cigarettes, Nicotine-Replacement Products for Smoking Cessation
Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that e-cigarettes combined with counseling may be more helpful to smokers trying to quit tobacco than counseling and nicotine-replacement products, such as patches, gums, and lozenges.
-
The HPV Vaccine: Increasing the Use of an Important Cancer Prevention Tool
Dr. Barbara Rimer, chair of the President’s Cancer Panel, summarizes the panel’s recent report on the HPV vaccine, which includes priorities and strategies to ensure that more people receive this critical cancer vaccine.
-
Vitamin D Supplements Don’t Reduce Cancer Incidence, Trial Shows
In the largest-ever randomized trial testing vitamin D for cancer prevention, the supplement did not lower the risk of developing cancer. The Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL) includes a nationally representative sample of nearly 26,000 participants.
-
Can Topical Drugs Help Prevent Breast Cancer?
Researchers are testing a topical-gel form of the drug tamoxifen to see if it can help prevent breast cancer as effectively as the oral form of the drug but with fewer side effects.
-
Cancer Prevention Message Is Key for HPV Vaccination Discussions with Parents
Health care providers should emphasize cancer prevention when discussing HPV vaccination with the parents of preteens who are due to receive the vaccine, results from a new study show.
-
Drug Combination Reduces Number of Colorectal Polyps in Patients with Hereditary Cancer Syndrome
People with FAP, an inherited condition that greatly increases their risk of gastrointestinal cancer, who took the drugs erlotinib (Tarceva) and sulindac (Aflodac) saw a substantial decrease in the number of precancerous lesions in the colon and rectum.
-
An Important Moment in Tobacco Control
November 26, 2017, marked a unique moment in US public health history, with the major US tobacco companies issuing the first in a series of court-ordered "corrective statements" about their products.
-
Experimental Ovarian Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Mice
The experimental vaccine targets a protein found at elevated levels in about 90% of the most common type of ovarian cancer. If validated in human studies, researchers believe the vaccine may be particularly useful for women who carry BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations.
-
Many Ovarian Cancers May Start in Fallopian Tubes, Study Finds
A new study provides more evidence that the most common form of ovarian cancer may originate in the fallopian tubes, and that there is a window of nearly 7 years between development of fallopian tube lesions and the start of ovarian cancer.
-
HPV Vaccination Linked to Decreased Oral HPV Infections
A study of more than 2,600 young adults found that the prevalence of oral infection with four HPV types, including two cancer-causing types, was 88% lower in those who reported receiving at least one dose of an HPV vaccine than in those not vaccinated.
-
CDC Updates Recommendations on HPV Vaccine
Updated CDC recommendations advise those younger than age 15 need only two doses of the HPV vaccine instead of three.
-
Symposium Brings Rising Global Cancer Burden into Focus
An NCI Cancer Currents blog post about the NCI Global Cancer Research Symposium, which examined ways of increasing research collaboration, particularly in cancer prevention and screening, to reduce the cancer burden.
-
Charting a Course toward Precision Cancer Prevention
Cancer researchers are increasingly exploring how cancer risk is influenced by genetic predisposition to cancer and the effects of environmental exposures, and what this means for cancer prevention.
-
Online Tool Helps Users Distinguish Moles from Melanoma
“Moles to Melanoma: Recognizing the ABCDE Features” presents photos that show changes in individual pigmented lesions over time, and describes the different appearances of moles, dysplastic nevi, and melanomas.
-
Drug Combination Shrinks Duodenal Polyps in People with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis
In a small clinical trial of people with an inherited condition that greatly increases gastrointestinal cancer risk, a two-drug combination shrank precancerous lesions in the duodenum.
-
HPV Infections Targeted by Vaccine Decrease in U.S.
Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) types targeted by the quadrivalent HPV vaccine has declined by nearly two-thirds among teenage girls since HPV vaccination was recommended in the United States.
-
The ‘Crisis’ of Low HPV Vaccination Rates: A Conversation with Dr. Noel Brewer
Following the release of a consensus statement from the NCI-Designated Cancer Centers urging HPV vaccination in the United States, Dr. Noel Brewer discusses the country’s low vaccination rates and how clinicians can help to improve them.