Resources for News Media

• Drug Approved to Help Young Patients Battle a Rare Cancer

  January 2, 2023 | HealthDay
  Children and adults with a rare type of soft tissue cancer will now have a new treatment option that could have a big impact. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for use in patients with advanced alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) that has spread to other parts of the body or cannot be removed by surgery.

• A new kind of blood test can screen for many cancers — as some pregnant people learn

  December 23, 2022 | NPR
  The simple blood test looks at DNA that's floating freely in a pregnant person's bloodstream. It searches for bits released by cells in the placenta, which should have the same genetic make-up as the fetus.

• Few Americans aware of cancer risks posed by alcohol: study

  December 2, 2022 | The Hill
  A low number of Americans are aware of the myriad cancer risks posed by alcohol consumption. Just over 30 percent know liquor can increase the risk of certain cancers, while 25 percent said the same about beer and 20 percent about wine, according to a new study from the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR).

• Dogs may hold key to treating cancer in humans

  November 27, 2022 | CBS News
  Some 4 million dogs in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer every year, often the same kinds humans get. And since we share many of the same genes with our canine companions, dogs with naturally developing cancers are being enrolled in clinical trials, with doctors and scientists using what they learn to speed potential treatments to them and us. It's called comparative oncology and it's now funded in part by the White House's Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

• US cancer death rates across all age groups continue on downward trend, new study shows

  October 27, 2022 | USA Today
  Overall U.S. cancer death rates continue to drop among men, women, children, teens and young adults, according to a report released Thursday.

• Monica Bertagnolli: “We must be willing to admit where our efforts have fallen short and be open to new ideas”

  October 7, 2022 | The Cancer Letter
  Bertagnolli is the first woman and the first chair of a clinical trials cooperative group to hold the position of NCI director. Her appointment was announced by President Biden nearly two months ago. Bertagnolli succeeds Norman E. Sharpless, who stepped down as director in April 2022

• Telehealth For Cancer Care Receives $23 Million Research Funding Boost

  August 18, 2022 | Forbes
  The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will award funding to conduct research into the use of telehealth for cancer care by creating four new “Telehealth Research Centers of Excellence.”

• Drinking Black Tea May Lower Mortality Risk, Study Suggests

  August 29, 2022 | Time
  While green tea has a long-standing reputation for health benefits, research has been much more mixed on black tea. One problem, says Maki Inoue-Choi, an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute, is that large observational studies on tea and mortality have focused on countries like Japan or China—places where green tea is more popular.

• The Cancer Grand Challenges Program Awards $100 Million To Four Research Teams

  June 16, 2022 | Forbes
  The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced on Thursday that four international research teams had been selected to receive a total of $100 million as part of the Cancer Grand Challenges program. Each team will receive $25 million over five years as it tackles one of cancer’s most challenging problems.

• Screening and Early Treatment Reduce Anal Cancer in People With HIV

  June 17, 2022 | POZ
  Screening people with HIV for precancerous anal cell changes and treating them promptly lowered the risk of progression to anal cancer by more than half, according to results from the ANCHOR study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

• 'We still are dying at alarming rates': Black cancer death rates are falling but remain higher than others, study finds

  May 19, 2022 | USA Today
  Despite declining cancer death rates, Black people still died of cancer at higher rates than any other racial group, a new study shows.

Trending Topics

• NCI Director Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli

  Learn about Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D., and NCI Director. She is a physician–scientist and surgeon whose research interests include gastrointestinal cancer development and the role of inflammation as a driver of cancer growth.

• Breast Cancer—Patient Version

  Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer. Mammograms can detect breast cancer early, possibly before it has spread. Start here to find information on breast cancer treatment, causes and prevention, screening, research, and statistics.

• Uterine Cancer—Patient Version

  Uterine cancers can be of two types: endometrial cancer (common) and uterine sarcoma (rare). Endometrial cancer can often be cured. Uterine sarcoma is often more aggressive and harder to treat. Start here to find information on uterine cancer treatment, causes and prevention, screening, research, and statistics.

• White House Fact Sheet: President Biden Details Cancer Moonshot Progress and New Initiatives on 60th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s Moonshot Address

  Sixty years ago today, President John F. Kennedy delivered his Moonshot speech at Rice University, committing to putting a man on the moon and bring him back. This afternoon at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, President Biden will discuss his bold vision for another American moonshot: ending cancer as we know it. It is a vision that will change people’s lives for the better, improve their health, and decrease the burden of the disease.

• Cancer Treatment Vaccines

  Cancer treatment vaccines treat cancer by strengthening the body’s natural defenses against the cancer. This page covers how cancer treatment vaccines work against cancer, cancers that are treated with them, and the side effects they may cause.

• Cancer death rates among Black people declined over time, but remain higher than other racial and ethnic groups

  From 1999—2019, US rates of cancer death fell among Black people. Yet, in 2019, their rates remained higher than those of other racial and ethnic groups.

• NCI COVID-19 in Cancer Patients Study (NCCAPS)

  The NCI COVID-19 in Cancer Patients Study, or NCCAPS, is a natural history study of COVID-19 in people with cancer. The knowledge gained from this study will help doctors better manage treatment for people with cancer and COVID-19 in the future.