Resources for News Media

• Study shows new treatment for lymphoma doesn't require chemo

  June 20, 2024 | CBS News
  Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found a new treatment for lymphoma that is not chemotherapy. The recent study focused on a non-chemotherapy treatment for people with aggressive B-cell lymphoma that has come back or is no longer responding to standard treatments.

• FDA approves self-collection screening for virus that causes cervical cancer

  May 15, 2024 | The Washington Post
  “The study will provide us the data to know what’s the uptake like, what do people do with this information? How is it received in different clinical settings, and do people engage with their gynecologists in a different way? And then ultimately, do we see a difference in cervical cancer cases?” NCI director Kimryn Rathmell said.

• NIH’s New Cancer Screening Research Network and Cancer Screening Technologies

  May 10, 2024 | The ASCO Post
  “There are many cancers we still cannot reliably detect until it is so late that they become extremely difficult to treat,” said W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). “Emerging technologies such as multicancer detection tests could transform cancer screening and help to extend the lives of many more [patients]. We need to be sure these technologies work and understand how to use them, so they benefit everyone,” she emphasized.
  
  

• NIH develops AI tool to better pair cancer patients with drugs

  April 19, 2024 | MobiHealthNews
  Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have developed an artificial intelligence tool that predicts whether a patient will respond to cancer-treatment drugs using individual tumor cells, according to a study published in Nature Cancer.

• NCI Director Discusses Cancer Moonshot In Interview.

  March 25, 2024 | The Nashville Post
  “Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell earned her stripes while working at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During her tenure as physician-in-chief and chair of the department of medicine, she was tapped to lead the National Cancer Institute in November.” As NCI director, “she will play an integral part in the White House’s Cancer Moonshot initiatives.” The Post interviewed Dr. Rathmell, who said, “I’m really excited about Cancer Moonshot because it signals that there’s significant White House support for cancer. Also, the Moonshot is an all-government approach. It means that we need to be talking to everybody about how we make a big difference for cancer.”

• FDA approves groundbreaking treatment for advanced melanoma

  February 16, 2024 | NBC News
  The Food and Drug Administration approved a new cancer therapy that could one day transform the way a majority of aggressive and advanced tumors are treated. The technology has been in development and studied for nearly 40 years. It was Rosenberg who pioneered TIL therapy — first describing how it could shrink melanoma tumors in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1988.

• Cervical cancer is preventable, yet rising number of women in poor regions are getting it

  January 25, 2024 | USA Today
  Informing the public about treatment was also top of mind Thursday as the White House hosted a forum on cervical cancer, as part of the Biden administration’s cancer moonshot initiative, which aims to prevent more than 4 million cancer deaths by 2047. Dr. Kimryn Rathmell, the National Cancer Institute director, announced the availability of new at-home HPV testing. The trial program is set to begin in the second quarter of 2024 with 25 health institutions across the U.S.

• W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, Begins Work as 17th Director of the NCI

  December 19, 2023 | The ASCO Post
  On December 18, W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, began her work as the 17th Director of the National Cancerl Institute (NCI). Dr. Rathmell was selected by President Biden to succeed Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, who left NCI to become the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on November 9.

• Progress in childhood cancer has stalled for Blacks and Hispanics, report says

  November 16, 2023 | Associated Press
  The National Cancer Institute is working to gather data from every childhood cancer patient with the goal of linking each child to state-of-the-art care. The effort could improve equity, said Dr. Emily Tonorezos, who leads the institute’s work on cancer survivorship.

• President Joe Biden Holds Ceremony For National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation Recipients

  October 24, 2023 | United Press International
  President Joe Biden awards Steven Rosenberg the National Medal of Technology and Innovation during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation recognizes individuals or teams for their technological contributions to America's economic, environmental and social well-being.

• Study To Determine If 3D Mammograms Can Help Catch Advanced Breast Cancers Better Than 2D Imaging

  Oct. 17, 2023 | AP
  An article published by AP and reprinted in multiple outlets, including the Denver Post, focused on a clinical trial, TMIST, that is recruiting thousands of volunteers to try to find out if 3D mammography is better at detecting breast cancer.” The article featured an interview with NCI’s Dr. Worta McCaskill-Stevens who discussed this study and broader efforts to improve diversity in cancer research.

• New study highlights systemic barriers to cancer treatment for women 

  Oct 14, 2023 | PBS News Hour, Weekend
  A recent international study revealed unique challenges facing women with cancer. Dr. Ophira Ginsburg, a senior advisor for Clinical Research at the National Cancer Institute's Center for Global Health, and one of the co-authors of the study was interviewed about this global effort.

• Why Fighting Cancer In Low Income Countries Helps Progress In Rich Countries, Too

  Sept. 18, 2023 | Forbes
  Cancer should be addressed "as the global health emergency that it is," Dr. Satish Gopal, director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute's Center for global health shared with Forbes Editor-at-Large Russell Flannery in a video interview.

Trending Topics

• Multi-Cancer Detection (MCD) Research

  NCI has been studying biomarkers of cancer and cancer risk for more than 20 years. One outgrowth of this research has been combining the measures into a way to test for multiple kinds of cancer at the same time. These types of tests, which use blood, urine, or other body fluids, are collectively known as either Multi-Cancer Detection assays (MCDs) or sometimes Multi-Cancer Early Detection assays (MCEDs). NCI uses the term Multi-Cancer Detection (MCD) assays or MCD tests.

• New NCI Director Eyes Cancer Moonshot, AI

  January 29, 2024 | Cancer Healthcast
  Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell discusses her priorities ahead and how she views various tech innovation around cancer care and research. Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell is one month into her post as National Cancer Institute’s new director and is already rolling up her sleeves on initiatives impacting health outcomes of cancer patients. Dr. Rathmell discusses her priorities for the year ahead, including a renewed focus on deepening connections across agencies, communities and the nation.
  

• Financial Toxicity and Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

  Financial Toxicity and Cancer Treatment discusses the increased financial distress that cancer patients and survivors uniquely experience. Get detailed information about the complex relationship between cancer and financial toxicity along with potential interventions in this clinician summary.

• Cancer Moonshot Scholars

  The Cancer Moonshot Scholars program is designed to advance cancer science while also diversifying the pool of researchers and the approaches to cancer research that NCI funds. The program seeks to enhance the number of applications submitted by Early Stage Investigators from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups identified as underrepresented) in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social sciences research workforce.

• National Cancer Plan - Join Us

  People across the country and worldwide are counting on us to end cancer as we know it. Research alone will not accomplish this. To succeed, we must work together to develop strategies, share knowledge, and accelerate progress. The National Cancer Plan provides a comprehensive framework for this meaningful collaboration and unites us in acting on the vision President Biden and First Lady Biden set out in the Cancer Moonshot℠ to end cancer as we know it.

• Evidence of Novel Susceptibility Variants for Prostate Cancer and a Multiancestry Polygenic Risk Score Associated with Aggressive Disease in Men of African Ancestry

  Article on ScienceDirect - Background: Genetic factors play an important role in prostate cancer (PCa) susceptibility; Objective: To discover common genetic variants contributing to the risk of PCa in men of African ancestry.

• White House Fact Sheet: On One Year Anniversary of Reignited Cancer Moonshot, Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Actions to End Cancer as We Know It

  One year ago, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden reignited the Cancer Moonshot, setting an ambitious, achievable goal: to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years, and improve the experience of people and families living with and surviving cancer, ultimately ending cancer as we know it today.

• HER2’s Genetic Link to Breast Cancer Spurs Development of New Treatments

  HER2 is a gene that has been linked to breast cancer growth. Learn about the development of trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks the HER2 protein, and other treatments that have improved survival for women with HER2-positive breast cancer.

• 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.

• 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.