Cancer Prevention Science:

A research blog from the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention

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How Patients and Their Doctors Determine Cancer Risk—and What Happens Next

November 19, 2020 | By Goli Samimi, Ph.D., M.P.H.

An image of a physician typing on a laptop.

If you were concerned that you might be at increased risk for a specific kind of cancer, what would you do to confirm that risk, and what would you be willing to do to reduce that risk? The answer is likely to be, "it depends on your doctor."

The ability to identify individuals at higher risk of cancer has significantly improved with technological and medical advances such as genetic testing and improved identification of precursor lesions. Individuals at higher risk for cancer are good candidates to potentially benefit from prevention interventions, including chemopreventive...

Projects Making Progress in Breast Cancer Detection and Prevention

October 19, 2020 | By Philip E. Castle, Ph.D., M.P.H.

A side-by-side of two normal mammograms showing the difference between a dense breast (left) and a fatty breast (right).

In the month of October, breast cancer awareness is the health message that looms large. Yet, researchers across the National Cancer Institute and across the world are focused on breast cancer all the time. In the United States, more than 275,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and more than 3.5 million are breast cancer survivors.

The best breast cancer, however, is the one that never happens. That is where the prevention and detection research supported by the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) is making a difference. 

Research Issues in Gynecology and Women's Health: How do Benign Conditions Become Cancer?

September 28, 2020 | By Goli Samimi, Ph.D., M.P.H.

An illustration of the female reproductive system.

Research to uncover how and why benign gynecologic conditions like endometriosis or uterine fibroids progress to invasive and deadly ovarian cancer or uterine sarcomas, is a critical and overlooked issue in women’s health. A new report on research priorities and an open funding opportunity are focused on addressing this issue.

In April 2019, Program Directors from the Division of Cancer Prevention and the Division of Cancer Biology within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Gynecologic Health and Disease Branch within the National Institute of Child Health and Human...

Smart Technology Is Aimed at Nutrition, Gut and Metabolism in Cancer Prevention Research Funding Opportunities

September 8, 2020 | By DCP Staff

The Gut Microbiome's Important Role in Immunity

As the availability and sophistication of smart technology for health (such as wearables, sensors, and micro-robotic tools) continues to increase, these devices could prove transformative in cancer prevention. Two ongoing Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) funding opportunities are promoting the creation of smart devices to examine the interrelationships among nutrition, the gut microbiome, and human metabolism as tools for progress in cancer prevention research.

One DCP funding opportunity (PAR-20-133) seeks to examine the diet-host-microbiome interactions along the biogeography...

New Technology Gives Patients Access to a 5-Minute, Office-Based Test to Identify Risk for Esophageal Cancer

June 1, 2020 | By DCP Staff

How the swallowable balloon device helps detect Barrett Esophagus.

A new technology coupled with a new biomarker test now in clinical trials are giving patients timely access to a quick, accurate and less invasive way to identify risk for one type of esophageal cancer.

EsoCheck™ and EsoGuard™ are the device and test created for the detection of Barrett's esophagus, the benign and treatable precursor condition to esophageal adenocarcinomas (EAC). EAC are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and are difficult to treat. Finding Barrett's esophagus, a sign of risk, could help patients by giving physicians a chance to intervene early. The technology...

Researchers Search the Genome for Clues to Early Age Onset Cancers in Racial/Ethnic Minorities

March 5, 2020 | By DCP Staff

Minority Underserved NCORP Sites Taking Part in the Early Onset Malignancy Initiative

While researchers have identified some of the genetic changes that lead to cancer development, a key knowledge gap remains: finding the genetic changes that drive the development of cancers that arise at an earlier age than average (early onset) in racially and ethnically diverse populations. Compared to a White population, people who are Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native are more likely to develop early age onset cancers and an overall higher incidence and mortality for breast, prostate, colorectal, liver, and kidney cancers, and for multiple myeloma. Although...

Optimizing Clinical Interventions for Prevention of Cervical Cancer and HPV-related Cancers in People Living with HIV

February 3, 2020 | By Vikrant Sahasrabuddhe, MBBS, MPH, DrPH

Members of the US-Latin American-Caribbean Clinical Trials Network and National Cancer Institute staff.

Cervical cancer is highly preventable, yet it is not fully prevented. Significant advancements in our understanding of the human papillomavirus (HPV)-linked development of cervical cancer have created highly effective clinical tools for primary prevention (HPV vaccines) and secondary prevention (screening and treatment of precancerous lesions). Despite this, more than half a million women are diagnosed and over 300,000 women die of cervical cancer every year globally.

Women with HIV have a three to five times higher risk of cervical cancer due to immunosuppression. Facing a dual...

Preventing the Progression of Low-Risk Localized Prostate Cancers: A New Frontier

January 17, 2020 | By Howard L. Parnes, M.D.

Infographic: Percent of Prostate Cancer Cases by Stage

In the path toward understanding the development and ultimate prevention of prostate cancer, researchers are studying how to keep low-grade, early stage prostate cancer being monitored on Active Surveillance from progressing to disease that needs definitive treatment.

Attempts at prevention of prostate cancer have had mixed results. While both dutasteride and finasteride reduced the incidence of prostate cancer in large, randomized clinical trials, both agents were associated with an increase in high-grade, potentially more aggressive, cancers. Notably, long-term follow-up studies...

Taking Advantage of the Transportation Processes from Inside to Outside the Cell to Detect Cancer

December 11, 2019 | By DCP Staff

Parts of a cell, displaying where an extracellular viscile forming.

As cancer researchers delve into the many molecular processes that guide cell life within the body, NCI is looking for ways to characterize and measure different substances in this process, with an eye to identifying who has cancer or who is at risk for the disease. One ongoing funding opportunity is promoting research on the isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their cargo for the discovery of biomarkers to predict cancer and cancer risk.

EVs are membrane-enclosed vesicles that are secreted by all cells. EVs are circulated in the blood and are readily...

New Onset Diabetes Cohort Sought to Unravel Complexities of Pancreatic Cancer Development

November 19, 2019 | By DCP Staff

Pancreatic Cancer New Onset Diabetes: About 1 in 100 people with new onset diabetes are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within 3 years of the diabetes diagnosis; 1 in 4 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer were first diagnosed with diabetes.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is leading a project to create a cohort of people who are newly diagnosed with diabetes in the hopes that this group, who are at increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer, provide the clues in their blood and tissues to unravel some of the unknowns about this highly fatal cancer. The New Onset Diabetes Study (NOD) will include 10,000 people ages 50 to 85 across the United States.

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose is too high. The hormone insulin, made by the pancreas, is responsible for regulating blood glucose, so...

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