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Latest Stories
Perspective
For nearly 30 years, the American Cancer Society’s prostate cancer screening guidelines have advised men to discuss prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, testing with a clinician and weigh potential benefits and harms, rather than treat screening as an unquestioned routine. This “informed decision-making” recommendation was consistent with guidelines from all major professional organizations in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Regulatory News
NCI Director Anthony Letai wants cancer centers and pharmaceutical companies to move faster on clinical trial contracts.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week published the long-awaited—or long-dreaded—final rule governing Medicare reimbursement of the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System.
Obituary
Dr. Kay “Taddy” Dickersin, PhD, MA, who had a hand in every aspect of the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s work, died Nov. 1 from complications of progressive supranuclear palsy. She was 74.
Free
When Barnett Kramer joined the National Cancer Institute as a young physician in 1986,his work centered on caring for patients and conducting therapeutic research.
Sponsored
For patients with an HPV-related form of throat cancer, treatment is often highly effective, with cure rates as high as 90%, depending on the disease stage. Now, researchers are investigating whether some patients can safely avoid additional treatment while maintaining excellent cancer outcomes.
Cancer Policy
In this year’s midterm election, voters in California approved Proposition 38, a $8.4 billion bond to fund immunology and immunotherapy research.
Cancer Policy
The FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program is being phased out after months of dormancy, according to reporting from Reuters.
Cancer Policy
In a letter to Congressional leaders, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network urged lawmakers to increase funding for NCI and cancer-related programs at NIH and CDC before the continuing resolution expires on Dec. 11.
In Brief
C. Ola Landgren, director of the Sylvester Myeloma Institute at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Health System, was named a recipient of the 2027 Precision Medicine World Conference Pioneer Award.
In Brief
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced the expansion of its Texas Medical Center campus through two new facilities: Inspiration Tower and Prism. Together, these facilities will enable UT MD Anderson to care for nearly 250,000 patients annually.
In Brief
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced a $10 million commitment from longtime supporters Zelma and William Reid to establish the Pancreatic Cancer High-Risk Interception Program, which will focus on identifying innovative strategies for detecting and intervening against pancreatic cancer in individuals who are at elevated risk for the disease.
In Brief
Stanford Medicine and Sutter Health held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Stanford Medicine Sutter Health Cancer Center.
In Brief
Color Health, a virtual cancer clinic that has received ASCO Certified designation, announced a set of formal clinical collaborations with NCI-designated cancer centers, expanding to other cancer centers throughout 2027.
In Brief
For many people with cancer, the chemotherapy drug cisplatin is a lifesaving treatment. But survival can come with a lasting consequence: Hearing loss.
In Brief
Thyme Care said it is scaling its Serious Illness program to meet growing demand among patients living with serious illness, a condition that carries a high risk of mortality and also impairs quality of life or places significant strain on caregivers.
Clinical Roundup
Combining immunotherapy with a targeted cancer drug before surgery, followed by immunotherapy, reduces the risk of death by 42% in in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer unable to receive standard chemotherapy, according to the phase III VOLGA clinical trial.
Clinical Roundup
Piktor, an investigational all-oral combination of serabelisib and sapanisertib, given with paclitaxel to patients with advanced endometrioid endometrial cancer and a PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway mutation who had received at least one prior line of therapy, yielded a 33% confirmed objective response rate in efficacy-evaluable patients, and a disease control rate of 83%, according to clinical data from phase II trial (FTH-PIK-201; NCT06463028; GOG-311).
Clinical Roundup
Roginolisib-containing regimens were tolerable, reduced immunosuppressive activated regulatory T cells, and expanded stem-like CD8+ T cells, according to data from the phase I/II of PULMO-01.
Clinical Roundup
At the recommended regimen, 73% of patients receiving a pasritamig and JNJ-9401 combination, two bispecific antibodies designed to work together to drive the body’s immune response against advanced prostate cancer, achieved reductions of at least 50% in prostate-specific antigen, according to the results of a first-in-human phase I study.
Clinical Roundup
Women with higher blood levels of two common per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also familiarly known as PFAS, were more likely to develop estrogen receptor-negative, or ER-negative, breast cancer, according to a study by NIH.
Clinical Roundup
Everyone in a diverse, nearly 100,000-person sample carried at least one genetic variant that affects how their body processes medications, and a quarter of those people had been prescribed a medication that is known to be impacted by the variant they carried, according to an analysis led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.
Clinical Roundup
Comprehensive biomarker testing before starting treatment for advanced lung cancer, as recommended in the NCCN Guidelines, was associated with patients living longer, according to a study led by researchers at Emory University.
Drugs & Targets
FDA approved Pimjetmi (pimicotinib), a once-daily oral colony stimulating factor-1 receptor inhibitor, as a systemic treatment for adults with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor for which surgical resection may cause worsening functional limitation or severe morbidity.
Podcast
The United States is projected to lose its measles elimination status, marking a troubling reversal after more than two decades in which the virus was no longer considered endemic.
News Analysis
As a science journalist living in the epicenter of the measles outbreak, I did what any reporter would do when I was assigned this story—I texted my medical friends.
News Analysis
In a victory speech on Nov. 4, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the presumed next speaker of the House, ran through the bread-and-butter concerns which gave Democrats House and Senate majorities not seen in a generation.
The blue tsunami of the 2026 midterm elections hit few states as dramatically as Iowa, where Democrats flipped one Senate seat, three congressional districts, and the governor’s office.
Obituary
David C. Hohn, president and CEO of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1997-2007, died on Oct. 30 at age 84.
Sponsored
I have spent over 20 years running a tumor imaging metrics core at an academic cancer center. In that time, I have watched clinical trial enrollment concentrate at a relatively small number of flagship academic institutions. Unfortunately, trials do not propagate well to the community sites where most patients prefer to receive care. The explanations usually offered for why this happens have never fully accounted for what I observed.
Cancer Policy
Four of the eight members recently appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have been granted waivers allowing financial conflicts of interest, according to records obtained by The New York Times.
Cancer Policy
A federal judge ruled that states will not need to require evidence from “medically frail” beneficiaries, proving their illness precludes them from work, in order to qualify for an exemption to the Medicaid work requirements, which are slated to go into effect nationwide on Jan. 1.
Cancer Policy
In a final guidance published on Nov. 4, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said that it will slash payments to hospitals for drugs acquired through the 340B program by 28%.
In Brief
Anthony B. El-Khoueiry was appointed director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, effective Nov. 1.
In Brief
Philip E. Castle was appointed NCI associate director for prevention.
In Brief
Ronny Drapkin was named president and CEO of the Wistar Institute, effective Nov. 30.
In Brief
Antoinette Tan was appointed inaugural chair of the newly formed Department of Cancer Medicine for the Charlotte, North Carolina campus of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
In Brief
The American Society of Hematology announced the election of four members to its executive committee for terms starting after the 2026 ASH Annual Meeting that is taking place Dec. 12–15 in New Orleans.
In Brief
A Rutgers-led consortium has been awarded a $6.5 million grant from the NCI to support next-generation tools to guide tobacco control policies, improve lung cancer screening, strengthen survivorship care, and support state-level cancer prevention planning.
In Brief
The American Lung Association Research Institute announced it invested $21 million in research and related scientific activities.
In Brief
Dalia Haydar, of Children’s National Hospital, was awarded a $1 million Big Fat Grant by The Cure Starts Now, through the Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma/Diffuse Midline Glioma collaborative, to advance an approach to CAR T-cell therapy for children with DMG, including DIPG and other aggressive pediatric brain tumors.
In Brief
Mohammad Haroon Choudry, surgical oncologist at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, has received a $150,000 Changemaker Research Grant from the Appendix Cancer PMP Research Foundation.
In Brief
Ronald McDonald House New York was awarded a $1.5 million, three-year grant from the RBC Foundation USA to pilot an AI-powered Family Navigation Hub for families staying at RMH-NY.
In Brief
Alexander Szalay, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University, and Janis Taube, a pathologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Dermatology and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, were chosen for a research project in Anthropic’s AI for Science program.
Clinical Roundup
In patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, tarlatamab, a bispecific T-cell engager, plus durvalumab as first-line maintenance therapy extended median overall survival by more than eight months, more than tripled progression-free survival, and reduced the risk of death by 58% compared to durvalumab alone, according to the results of the phase III open-label, multicenter, randomized DeLLphi-305 study.
Clinical Roundup
Median overall survival has not been reached in the phase I study of SYNC-T Therapy SV-102, an investigational multi-target immunotherapy platform for solid tumors in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, as of the April 1 data cutoff.
Clinical Roundup
Rising incidence of colorectal cancer now extends beyond younger adults to nearly all age groups, according to a study analyzing the most recent data from NCI to examine incidence rates of colorectal cancer over a 20-year period.
Clinical Roundup
An international phase III clinical trial that treated patients with high-risk localized and locally advanced prostate cancer with apalutamide—a next-generation neoadjuvant androgen-receptor pathway inhibitor—plus hormone therapy before and after prostate cancer surgery, was further validated by a substudy demonstrating a reduced risk of metastasis or death compared with standard of care.
Clinical Roundup
A team of researchers has shown that hormone-blocking therapies commonly used to treat prostate cancers temporarily activate the body’s immune response before those immune effects begin to fade over time.
Clinical Roundup
Women who have undergone a double mastectomy to treat ductal carcinoma in situ, a noninvasive form of breast cancer also known as stage 0 breast cancer, may not benefit from routine mammograms or other breast imaging after surgery, according to a study led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Clinical Roundup
Type 1 diabetes has been associated with a decreased risk of certain cancers, but the exact reasons why have remained a mystery. Data from studies in mice now shows that it could be due to changes in immune cells, called T cells, caused by hyperglycemia.
Drugs & Targets
FDA granted accelerated approval for Rybrevant Faspro (amivantamab and hyaluronidase-lpuj) (subcutaneous injection, 160 mg/2,000 units per mL) as a single agent for the treatment of adults with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose disease has progressed on or after platinum‑based chemotherapy and an anti‑PD‑(L)1 antibody.
NCI Trials
The National Cancer Institute approved the following clinical research studies last month.
Drugs & Targets
FDA accepted and granted Priority Review to the supplemental New Drug Application for Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) in combination with rituximab for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma.
Podcast
On Oct. 19, FDA granted an accelerated approval to dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli) for the treatment of patients with previously untreated stage 2 or stage 3 rectal cancer that is mismatch repair deficient or microsatellite instability–high, as determined by an FDA-authorized test.
NCI
Late next month, NCI is expected to publish the new criteria it uses to bestow designations on America’s network of cancer centers.
NCI
Members of the National Cancer Advisory Board’s ad hoc Working Group on Extramural Research Concepts and Programs at a recent meeting struggled to define the new group’s the role and raised concerns about some initial growing pains.
Clinical
Earlier this week, FDA granted an accelerated approval to dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli), for adults with previously untreated stage 2 or stage 3 rectal cancer that is mismatch repair deficient or microsatellite instability-high, marking a celebratory moment for the field.
Free
Keaton Herzer had never even heard of cholangiocarcinoma when he was diagnosed in 2025.
Sponsored
Neeha Zaidi, MD, is turning the tables on pancreatic cancer. Mutations to a gene called KRAS—a cancer driver common to almost all pancreatic cancers—are now a target for prevention and treatment.
Cancer Policy
HHS, through the recently announced Office of Women’s Health, announced taht it will be pursuing a collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and DenseBreast-info.org to strengthen breast cancer screening, expand breast density education, and improve timely diagnostic follow-up, particularly for midlife women.
Cancer Policy
Jennifer Shuford, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appointed by President Trump to steady the agency, has resigned.
Cancer Policy
Premiums for family health insurance plans sponsored by employers have risen 9% from 2025 to 2026, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s annual survey of large and small employers.
In Brief
Wells Messersmith was named director of the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center, effective Oct. 1.
In Brief
Norman E. Sharpless has been named 2026-2027 president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy by the fellows of the AACR Academy.
In Brief
Dinah S. Singer is now an NIH Scientist Emeritus after retiring from NCI in June.
In Brief
Rogerio Lilenbaum has stepped into the role of enterprise physician lead of thoracic cancer at Advocate Health, effective immediately.
In Brief
The Society of Surgical Oncology and IRCAD North America are partnering to expand advanced hands-on educational opportunities for surgical oncologists and other members of the multidisciplinary cancer care team.
In Brief
NCI awarded a two-year $422,000 grant to University of Illinois Cancer Center member Andrei Gartel to examine what might influence differences in outcomes for some patients with acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer with persistently poor outcomes in which relapse is common.
Clinical Roundup
An updated clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology provides evidence-based recommendations on the use of hypofractionated radiation therapy for patients with localized prostate cancer.
Clinical Roundup
In patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, tarlatamab, a bispecific T-cell engager, plus durvalumab as first-line maintenance therapy extended median overall survival by more than eight months, more than tripled progression-free survival, and reduced the risk of death by 58% compared to durvalumab alone, according to results of the phase III open-label, multicenter, randomized DeLLphi-305 study.
Clinical Roundup
Divarasib, a next-generation KRAS G12C inhibitor, lowered the risk of disease progression or death by 42% and the overall risk of death by 44% in people with previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer, according to the results from the phase III Krascendo 1 study. The therapy demonstrated the superior efficacy compared with current standard of care KRAS G12C inhibitors.
Clinical Roundup
The phase III G-HOPE-001 study (NCT06238843), evaluating arcotatug tavatecan (TAK-921 or IBI343) in patients with Claudin 18.2-positive, previously treated, advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, met its dual primary endpoints of overall survival and progression-free survival.
Clinical Roundup
Perioperative Imfinzi (durvalumab) plus neoadjuvant Padcev (enfortumab vedotin) reduced risk of recurrence by 49% and risk of death by 42% in muscle-invasive bladder cancer, according to the VOLGA phase III trial. The combination demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in the primary endpoint of event-free survival and key secondary endpoint of overall survival in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer versus standard of care.
Clinical Roundup
An international phase III clinical trial that treated patients with high-risk localized and locally advanced prostate cancer with apalutamide—a next-generation neoadjuvant androgen-receptor pathway inhibitor—plus hormone therapy before and after prostate cancer surgery, was further validated by a substudy demonstrating a reduced risk of metastasis or death compared with standard of care.
Clinical Roundup
First-line subcutaneous Rybrevant Faspro (amivantamab and hyaluronidase-lpuj) plus a PD-1 inhibitor and fixed-duration carboplatin chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma showeddeep and durable responses, according to the results from Cohort 5 of the phase Ib/II OrigAMI-4 study.
Clinical Roundup
Mo-Rez showed clinically meaningful and durable responses at >13 months follow-up, according to updated data from the global phase I BEHOLD-1 trial for mocertatug rezetecan (Mo-Rez), an investigational B7-H4-targeted antibody-drug conjugate. This study builds on initial data in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer announced earlier this year.
Clinical Roundup
Beginning survivorship care for head and neck cancer patients earlier is linked to better survival and lower recurrence, according to the findings of a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.
Drugs & Targets
FDA has expanded approval of Talzenna (talazoparib) in combination with Xtandi (enzalutamide) for the treatment of men with metastatic androgen pathway modulation-naïve or -sensitive prostate cancer with homologous recombination repair gene mutations, including both BRCA and non-BRCA mutations.
Drugs & Targets
FDA is accepting comments on a new regulatory framework that it published for industry sponsors developing personalized gene therapies to treat rare diseases.
Drugs & Targets
FDA authorized the marketing of 24 nicotine pouch products through the premarket tobacco product application pathway. The authorized products are made by Modoral Brands Inc. under the Velo brand and are all listed as containing 4 mg of nicotine.
Drugs & Targets
The European Commission has granted Marketing Authorization for Padcev (enfortumab vedotin), in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab), as neoadjuvant treatment and then continued after radical cystectomy as adjuvant treatment, for adults with resectable muscle-invasive bladder cancer in the European Union, regardless of cisplatin eligibility.
Podcast
In this episode of The Cancer Letter Podcast, Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter, and Jacquelyn Cobb, managing editor, discuss promising developments in cancer research and the growing prominence of cancer as an election issue in Iowa.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Kevan Shokat, a professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at UC San Francisco, has won the second annual Stephenson Global Prize for research in pancreatic cancer.
Regulatory News
FDA has granted an accelerated approval to dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli), making it the first and only immunotherapy approved in the U.S. for adults with locally advanced rectal cancers.
Free
“As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.”
Perspective
Throughout my career as a physician and scientist, I’ve seen ideas once considered impossible become breakthroughs that save lives. They happened because talented scientists had the resources, institutions, and sustained support to pursue ambitious ideas. Most importantly, they knew patients could not afford to wait.
The National Academy of Medicine announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting Oct. 19.
Sponsored
Cancer therapy has become increasingly personalized. Biomarker-driven treatment selection, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy have transformed outcomes across many tumor types and demonstrated the power of matching the right treatment to the right patient.
Cancer Policy
The American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Lung Association are urging caution about proposed changs to the NIH peer review process.
Cancer Policy
President Trump earlier this week signed an executive order to create a women’s health division within NIH, as well as a White House Women’s Health Task Force.
In Brief
Douglas Flora was named president of Association of Cancer Care Centers for the 2026–2027 term.
In Brief
James LaBelle has been appointed the service line chief of Pediatric Cancer and Blood Diseases for the Chicagoland Children’s Health Alliance, a collaboration between the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, Advocate Children’s Hospital and Pediatrics at Endeavor Health.
In Brief
Patients traveling long distances to the University of Chicago Medicine for cancer treatment will soon have a new place to stay close to its anchor hospital on the city’s South Side, as part of a partnership with the American Cancer Society.
In Brief
Jessica Zeller was named director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement at the FDA Center for Tobacco Products.
In Brief
Knowing your genetic risk for diseases like cancer can spur detection, prevention, and treatment. But some people don’t know or have access to their family’s medical history.
In Brief
A University of Oklahoma physician-researcher recently received $2.9 million in funding from NCI to study whether RedHill Biopharma’s drug opaganib, given after CAR T-cell therapy, can help the immune cells fight cancer more effectively.
In Brief
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah will host the Frontiers Symposium on AI, Access, and Action: Transforming Cancer Care Delivery on Feb, 10-12, 2027.
Funding Opportunities
The International Myeloma Society, in partnership with the Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation, is accepting applications for more than $3 million in research funding through its 2027 Translational Research and Career Development awards. The awards support research to improve the prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of multiple myeloma and related plasma cell disorders, while developing the next generation of researchers in the field.
Clinical Roundup
Intismeran autogene (intismeran; V940 or mRNA-4157), a novel investigational mRNA-based individualized neoantigen therapy, plus Keytruda (pembrolizumab) improved recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival as an adjuvant treatment for patients with completely resected stage 2B-4 melanoma, according to results of the phase III INTerpath-001 trial.
