Kennedy announces massive cuts, centralization at HHS—NCI and FDA hit Also this week: Columbia yields, Makary and Bhattacharya confirmed, tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and more changes impacting oncology

The Directors: Louis Weiner and Taofeek Owonikoko on keeping up morale amid uncertainty
“We are resolute. We are committed to continuing to move the work forward.”

Speaking on The Cancer Letter Podcast, Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko recalled recent conversations with two junior faculty members at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.

April 18, 2025

Vol.51 No.15

By Paul Goldberg

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eight
NCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

Confidential Trump administration budget documents show that the upcoming FY26 Budget Request will radically cut about $50 billion out of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reshuffling agency components, and slashing the number of NIH institutes and centers to just eight.

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”
Whistleblowers will be “honored”

As he addressed FDA employees, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the Trump era as a “generational opportunity to make the regulatory agency live up to its foundational ideals” and emerge from the morass of what he described as the “deep state.”

NCI summarizes changes to the CCSG NOFO

In an email sent to directors and deputy directors of NCI-designated cancer centers, Krzysztof Ptak, director of the NCI Office of Cancer Centers, provided a comparison between the newly issued Cancer Center Support Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity with the previous version of the document.

April 18, 2025

Vol.51 No.15

Clinical Roundup

Inherited cancer mutations may drive tumor growth, study shows

Most cancer genome studies have focused on mutations in the tumor itself and how such gene variants allow a tumor to grow unchecked. A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis takes a deep dive into inherited cancer mutations measured in a healthy blood sample and reports how those mutations might take a toll on the body’s cells starting at birth, perhaps predisposing a person to develop cancers at various stages of life.

April 18, 2025

Vol.51 No.15

Drugs & Targets

FDA approves nivolumab + ipilimumab for unresectable or metastatic HCC

FDA on April 11 approved nivolumab (Opdivo) with ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.

April 18, 2025

Vol.51 No.15

Kennedy announces massive cuts, centralization at HHS—NCI and FDA hit

Also this week: Columbia yields, Makary and Bhattacharya confirmed, tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and more changes impacting oncology

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

The Directors: Louis Weiner and Taofeek Owonikoko on keeping up morale amid uncertainty
“We are resolute. We are committed to continuing to move the work forward.”

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eight
NCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”
Whistleblowers will be “honored”

NCI summarizes changes to the CCSG NOFO

Inherited cancer mutations may drive tumor growth, study shows

FDA approves nivolumab + ipilimumab for unresectable or metastatic HCC

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Kennedy announces massive cuts, centralization at HHS—NCI and FDA hit

Also this week: Columbia yields, Makary and Bhattacharya confirmed, tariffs on pharmaceuticals, and more changes impacting oncology

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

The Directors: Louis Weiner and Taofeek Owonikoko on keeping up morale amid uncertainty“We are resolute. We are committed to continuing to move the work forward.”

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eightNCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”Whistleblowers will be “honored”

NCI summarizes changes to the CCSG NOFO

Inherited cancer mutations may drive tumor growth, study shows

FDA approves nivolumab + ipilimumab for unresectable or metastatic HCC

Never miss an issue!

Login

The Directors: Louis Weiner and Taofeek Owonikoko on keeping up morale amid uncertainty
“We are resolute. We are committed to continuing to move the work forward.”

Trump administration seeks to slash NIH by roughly 40% as 27 institutes and centers are whittled down to eight
NCI to remain intact, but its finances are uncertain; FDA is spared big cuts

RFK Jr. urges FDA staff to resist “agency capture” by special interests and resist “deep state”
Whistleblowers will be “honored”