The first 5 decades of research in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were dominated by the cytarabine plus anthracyclines backbone, with advances in strategies including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, high-dose cytarabine, supportive care measures, and targeted therapies for the subset of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Since 2017, a turning point in AML research, 12 agents

In the United States, over 2 million individuals openly identify with a gender that differs from their sex assigned at birth. A cancer diagnosis is physically and psychologically taxing—and, in some, traumatic. However, for transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people, many of whom have experienced discrimination in myriad health care settings, the challenges may be even greater. These recommendations

No abstract is available for this article.

A study based in the United Kingdom reports that, in general, most women between the ages of 15 and 39 years who have survived a cancer diagnosis are at low risk for pregnancy complications later in their lives. The study appears in The Lancet Oncology (doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00269-9). According to the study authors, limited data are available on the risks of obstetric complications among survivors

“While it’s been known for some time in the surgical literature that bilateral mastectomy does not impact mortality, this study more clearly confirms that through large sample sizes, length of prospective follow-up, and thoughtful subgroup analysis.” —Monique Gary, DO Although rates of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy and bilateral mastectomy are increasing among women with unilateral sporadic

The 2024 Breast Cancer Statistics highlight a few interesting trends: breast cancer incidence is increasing, there is a greater increase in younger women, and most of this increase is driven by early stage diagnosis and hormone receptor (HR)-positive disease.1 In addition, compared with other racial groups, women with Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage have a greater increase in breast

This is the American Cancer Society's biennial update of statistics on breast cancer among women based on high-quality incidence and mortality data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breast cancer incidence continued an upward trend, rising by 1% annually during 2012–2021, largely confined to localized-stage and hormone receptor-positive disease.

In order to maintain the high standards of CA’s content, the Editors of CA rely on the knowledge and dedication of many experts in deciding which topics to pursue, which manuscripts to publish, and what modifications to make to ensure medical and scientific accuracy and suitability for our readers. We thank our Associate Editors and our Editorial Advisory Board, who continue to provide these services

“Although we need to wait for overall survival analysis in a few years to be completely certain of this strategy, this is virtually identical to the improvement seen in the adjuvant trial (ADAURA) that led to an improvement in OS, so it is well worth using now.” —Nate Pennell, MD, PhD Investigators for the phase 3 LAURA trial reported that for patients with unresectable stage III non–small cell lung

No abstract is available for this article.

It has been widely reported that patients who identify as LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other gender-diverse characteristic) have more health risks than the cisgender and/or heterosexual population. According to previous studies, most of the disparity has been attributed to the minority stress theory: Members of these communities disproportionally experience discrimination

Older adults with cancer heterogeneously experience health care, treatment, and symptoms. Geriatric assessment (GA) offers a comprehensive evaluation of an older individual's health status and can predict cancer-related outcomes in individuals with solid tumors and those with hematologic malignancies. In the last decade, randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the benefits of GA and GA management

In this issue of the journal, Magnuson et al. provide a comprehensive review of available geriatric assessment (GA) tools and their impact on outcomes for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. In addition, the authors provide a clear guide for clinicians to help understand the importance of GA and management.1 An assumption inherent in the GA is that improvement in outcomes is driven by modifications

In 2018, the authors reported estimates of the number and proportion of cancers attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors in 2014 in the United States. These data are useful for advocating for and informing cancer prevention and control. Herein, based on up-to-date relative risk and cancer occurrence data, the authors estimated the proportion and number of invasive cancer cases (excluding

No abstract is available for this article.

A new study appearing in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) investigated the effectiveness of an emerging colon cancer screening option—a cell-free DNA (cfDNA) blood-based test known as Shield—that researchers and clinicians hope will encourage more people to be screened for colorectal cancer (CRC) (doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2304714). Allison Rosen, MS, from Houston, Texas, is a 12-year CRC survivor

“AI tools may soon be able to help identify appropriate clinical trials for individual patients and even assist oncologists with a preliminary assessment of which trials a patient will be eligible for.” —Shiraj Sen, MD, PhD With artificial intelligence (AI) erupting across all aspects of life, including health care, oncology is a logical field ripe for new applications. AI is already used in cancer

Social media is widely used globally by patients, families of patients, health professionals, scientists, and other stakeholders who seek and share information related to cancer. Despite many benefits of social media for cancer care and research, there is also a substantial risk of exposure to misinformation, or inaccurate information about cancer. Types of misinformation vary from inaccurate information

Tumor-agnostic therapies represent a paradigm shift in oncology by altering the traditional means of characterizing tumors based on their origin or location. Instead, they zero in on specific genetic anomalies responsible for fueling malignant growth. The watershed moment for tumor-agnostic therapies arrived in 2017, with the US Food and Drug Administration's historic approval of pembrolizumab, an

No abstract is available for this article.

Although approximately half of patients with cancer receive symptom management and advance care planning (ACP), a new study reports that the percentage is much worse—only approximately 20%—for low-income and minority patients. The researchers note that this disparity results in not just reduced quality of life for the patients but also increased costs of care for individuals and overall. The study

“Too often, we have patients who are told concretely—by their physicians—that HT therapy is bad—it increases your breast cancer risk; this doesn‘t account for all of the other medical benefits of HRT and quality-of-life factors that impact women during menopause.” —Ellie Proussaloglou, MD It has been more than 2 decades since the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI; https://www.whi.org/) alarmed clinicians

Cancer mortality rates have declined during the last 28 years, but that process is not equitably shared. Disparities in cancer outcomes by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and gender identity, and geographic location persist across the cancer care continuum. Consequently, community outreach and engagement (COE) efforts within National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for all cancer sites, including gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), is meant to be dynamic, requiring periodic updates to optimize AJCC staging definitions. This entails the collaboration of experts charged with evaluating new evidence that supports changes to each staging system. GEP-NETs are the second most prevalent

The rising costs of cancer care and subsequent medical financial hardship for cancer survivors and families are well documented in the United States. Less attention has been paid to employment disruptions and loss of household income after a cancer diagnosis and during treatment, potentially resulting in lasting financial hardship, particularly for working-age adults not yet age-eligible for Medicare

Two important reports regarding cancer incidence in the United States1 and globally2 have been recently released. In summary, almost 20 million people worldwide were diagnosed with cancer in 2022, and almost 10 million died of their disease.2 Lung cancer is the most common cancer globally, followed by female breast, colorectal, prostate, and stomach cancers. For women, breast cancer is the most common

The 2022 update on cancer statistics provides a staggering figure: 20 million will receive a new diagnosis of cancer, and nearly 10 million will die. The data are derived from estimates provided by the Global Cancer Observatory, which relies on the best available sources of both incidence and mortality from cancer in each country.1 Population-based cancer survival is a key metric of the effectiveness

This article presents global cancer statistics by world region for the year 2022 based on updated estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). There were close to 20 million new cases of cancer in the year 2022 (including nonmelanoma skin cancers [NMSCs]) alongside 9.7 million deaths from cancer (including NMSC). The estimates suggest that approximately one in five men or

Case presentation A man aged 41 years who had a past medical history significant for bilateral lower extremity varicosities and a prior 20-pack-year smoking history reported several days of fatigue to his primary care physician. His family history was notable for metastatic kidney cancer in his father. On laboratory testing, he was anemic (hemoglobin, 11.2 g/dL), with iron studies suggestive of iron-deficiency

Multicancer detection (MCD) tests use a single, easily obtainable biospecimen, such as blood, to screen for more than one cancer concurrently. MCD tests can potentially be used to improve early cancer detection, including cancers that currently lack effective screening methods. However, these tests have unknown and unquantified benefits and harms. MCD tests differ from conventional cancer screening

The concept of blood-based multicancer early detection (MCED) tests has generated much excitement, in part because of the potential of such tests to reduce cancer mortality by encompassing cancers for which screening is currently not available. A review in this issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, largely authored by members in the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute

“Second primary cancer occurs with different frequency depending on the site of the first cancer, and we find a higher cumulative incidence in cancer sites with a relatively good or good survival. To the best of our knowledge these results are useful in the counselling of patients with cancer and the data provide new evidence for personalized survivorship care.” Trille Kristina Kjaer, PhD A study using

No abstract is available for this article.

With genetic testing becoming more readily available for cancer prevention and surveillance, a new study investigated whether skipping counseling—either before or after testing—is any worse than requiring counseling for patients with a family history of cancer or those known to be at genetic risk for cancer. The results of Making Genetic Testing Accessible (MAGENTA), a four-armed randomized clinical

This erratum corrects the following: Siegel RL, Giaquinto AN, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2024. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024;74(1):12-49. doi:10.3322/caac.21820 Multiple errors appear in Table 9. The first age column should be “1–19” (not “1–9” as originally published), and the second age column should be “20–39” (not “20–30”). Additionally, cancer was left off as the fourth leading cause of death among

Case presentation A Caucasian male aged 51 years presented with tongue pain, odynophagia, right otalgia, and weight loss. Physical examination showed a tender, ulcerative mass of the posterior lateral tongue and crossing the midline. A biopsy confirmed invasive oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Computed tomography (CT) imaging revealed a deeply invasive tumor involving the right oral tongue

CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (CA) was not a journal I ever saw myself publishing in let alone leading; its impact factor and prestige seemed out of reach for me—such is the Imposter Syndrome. Still, I came across the opportunity to become its editor and I applied, thinking I would regret it if I did not at least try. To my delight, I was chosen to succeed Ted Gansler, who had led CA as its editor

“The message is that clinicians should redouble their efforts to identify and test those who are at risk for carrying a genetic alteration that increases the risk of cancer.”Mark E. Robson, MD Science editor Amy H from Santa Clarita, California, was aware of her immediate family’s heavy cancer history so it came as no surprise to her when she was diagnosed with cancer—a stage 1 tumor in the transverse

No abstract is available for this article.

W then ophthalmologist and co-founder of Glaucomflecken LLC, William Flanary, MD, suffered two separate, unrelated bouts of cancer and then cardiac arrest, his wife served as his primary caregiver. While Dr Flanary received the medical attention he needed, Kristin Flanary, also known as Lady Glaucomflecken, co-founder and marketing director of Glaucomflecken LLC in Portland, Oregon, was left frazzled

The 2024 update to Cancer Statistics from the American Cancer Society estimates that over 2,000,000 people this year will hear the words, “you have cancer.”1 This amounts to nearly 5500 people each day, or the equivalent to one person experiencing this every 15 seconds. This marks the first time incidence has eclipsed 2 million Americans, with more people being diagnosed at earlier stages of these

Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in the United States and compiles the most recent data on population-based cancer occurrence and outcomes using incidence data collected by central cancer registries (through 2020) and mortality data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (through 2021). In 2024, 2,001,140 new cancer cases and

The last decade has seen rapid progress in the use of genomic tests, including gene panels, whole-exome sequencing, and whole-genome sequencing, in research and clinical cancer care. These advances have created expansive opportunities to characterize the molecular attributes of cancer, revealing a subset of cancer-associated aberrations called driver mutations. The identification of these driver mutations

Pain is one of the most burdensome symptoms in people with cancer, and opioid analgesics are considered the mainstay of cancer pain management. For this review, the authors evaluated the efficacy and toxicities of opioid analgesics compared with placebo, other opioids, nonopioid analgesics, and nonpharmacologic treatments for background cancer pain (continuous and relatively constant pain present at

In 2021, the American Cancer Society published its first biennial report on the status of cancer disparities in the United States. In this second report, the authors provide updated data on racial, ethnic, socioeconomic (educational attainment as a marker), and geographic (metropolitan status) disparities in cancer occurrence and outcomes and contributing factors to these disparities in the country

The 2023 American Cancer Society (ACS) report on cancer disparities highlights the persistent issues related to inequities in cancer incidences and outcomes.1 Black individuals continue to be diagnosed at higher incidence rates than White individuals with multiple cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, lung, prostate, and cervical cancers. The report also reveals that Black patients with the same

Testicular germ cell tumor (GCT) is the most common solid tumor in adolescent and young adult men. Progress in the management of GCT has been made in the last 50 years, with a substantial improvement in cure rates for advanced disease, from 25% in the 1970s to nearly 80%. However, relapsed or platinum-refractory disease occurs in a proportion, 20% of whom will die from disease progression. This article

No abstract is available for this article.

It has long been believed—but with few large-scale epidemiological studies to prove it—that ultra-processed foods can contribute to a number of cancers. A new European observational study, based on results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort study, offers more proof validating the issue. The EPIC study goes one step further by showing how diet alternatives

“I think it has to be taken with the caveat that there’s certainly some variability across tumor types. However, if the cost of the test is less of an issue, I think it could be well worth it.”—Wafik El-Deiry MD, PhD A large observational study of patients in England and Wales evaluated the effectiveness of the methylation-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood test Galleri to identify over

In order to maintain the high standards of CA’s content, the Editors of CA rely on the knowledge and dedication of many experts in deciding which topics to pursue, which manuscripts to publish, and what modifications to make to ensure medical and scientific accuracy and suitability for our readers. We thank our Associate Editors and our Editorial Advisory Board, who continue to provide these services

Current US lung cancer screening recommendations limit eligibility to adults with a pack-year (PY) history of ≥20 years and the first 15 years since quit (YSQ). The authors conducted a systematic review to better understand lung cancer incidence, risk and mortality among otherwise eligible individuals in this population beyond 15 YSQ. The PubMed and Scopus databases were searched through February 14

Lung cancer is the leading cause of mortality and person-years of life lost from cancer among US men and women. Early detection has been shown to be associated with reduced lung cancer mortality. Our objective was to update the American Cancer Society (ACS) 2013 lung cancer screening (LCS) guideline for adults at high risk for lung cancer. The guideline is intended to provide guidance for screening

The American Cancer Society has updated its guideline for lung cancer screening in people who are at higher risk because of their history of smoking.

Lung cancer screening is a proven method to detect cancers early, resulting in reduced morbidity and mortality. Guidelines regarding lung cancer screening have been published by a few groups, including the American Cancer Society (ACS) who, since 2010, have recommended for low-dose computed tomography screening for those who meet the criteria. One such criterion is years since quitting (YSQ). The 2023

The progression of cancer involves a critical step in which malignant cells escape from control by the immune system. Antineoplastic agents are particularly efficient when they succeed in restoring such control (immunosurveillance) or at least establish an equilibrium state that slows down disease progression. This is true not only for immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), but

Case presentation CW is a Caucasian woman aged 70 years with history of asthma, sleep apnea (on continuous positive airway pressure), hypertension, and hyperlipidemia who presented to her primary care physician for her annual physical. She was otherwise well and specifically denied any gastrointestinal symptoms or unintentional weight loss. Per patient report and a review of outside records, she underwent

“The overarching objective [of this study] is to improve the early detection of CRC at younger ages, which holds significant potential for improving patient outcomes.”—Yin Cao, ScD, MPH Eight years ago, Paula Chambers-Raney from Houston, Texas, suffered from stomach pain, blood in her stool, and anemia. Her primary care physician told her that she had hemorrhoids. Then, over the next 18 months, other

No abstract is available for this article.

There is encouraging news for patients with endometrial cancer based on the results of two recent phase 3 clinical trials: Immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy may appreciably increase progression-free survival for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. Both trials—NRG-GY018 and RUBY— were presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2023 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer in