CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians最新文献

{"title":"Improved survival, disparate outcomes contemporaneously define the modern worldwide burden of childhood cancers","authors":"Matthew R. Kudek MD, Hao Wang PhD","doi":"10.3322/caac.70073","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70073","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Over the last 2 decades, patients with childhood cancer collectively have realized significant increases in cure and survival, despite largely stable disease prevalence over the same period. This suggests that an ongoing refinement of therapies, including cellular therapies,<span><sup>1</sup></span> immunotherapies,<span><sup>2</sup></span> and molecularly targeted precision medical therapies,<span><sup>3, 4</sup></span> and their incorporation into childhood cancer treatment regimens has improved these outcomes. Indeed, the achievement in mortality reduction enables patients, families, and their medical care teams to replace the devastating news of a childhood cancer diagnosis with the hope for a cure or, perhaps at worst, a manageable chronic disease.</p><p>In this issue of <i>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</i>, Li and colleagues<span><sup>5</sup></span> describe recent trends of global childhood cancer statistics over the past 2 decades based on data from the GBD (Global Burden of Disease) 2021 project (source: healthdata.org) and the GLOBOCAN (Global Cancer Observatory) 2022 project (source: International Agency for Research on Cancer). Both the age-standardized incidence rate and the age-standardized prevalence rate of childhood cancer declined between 2000 and 2002, rose between 2003 and 2018, then dropped again between 2019 and 2021 during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In contrast, there was a reduction in the age-standardized mortality rate throughout the entire period. In 2022, there were an estimated 202,164 new childhood cancer cases and 77,182 deaths worldwide. Leukemia remained the most common and fatal childhood malignancy, with brain and central nervous system tumors and non-Hodgkin lymphoma also contributing substantially to disease burden.</p><p>Importantly, the study by Li et al. highlights stark disparities by socioeconomic development. Wealthier nations with higher Human Development Index (HDI) demonstrated higher incidence rates (age-standardized incidence rate, 15.3 vs. 8.0 per 100,000 in very-high HDI vs. low HDI regions), likely reflecting better diagnostic infrastructure, whereas poor regions with low HDI experienced disproportionately higher mortality (age-standardized mortality rate, 4.4 vs. 2.8 per 100,000). Children in low HDI settings face mortality rates greater than 50% higher than their counterparts in very-high HDI countries, underscoring critical gaps in access to timely diagnosis and effective treatment.</p><p>Projections to 2050 reveal a concerning and widening disparity: although medium, high, and very-high HDI regions are expected to see declines in both new diagnoses and deaths, low HDI countries are projected to experience increases of approximately 45% in both metrics. This trajectory risks deepening the already substantial global disparity in childhood cancer outcomes. It should be noted that the projections from 2022 to 2050 assume stable incidence and mortality rates over ti","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12932036/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147281443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Researchers use pooled analysis to define a cure in colon cancer","authors":"Carrie Printz","doi":"10.3322/caac.70064","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70064","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Oncologists have long struggled with the challenges of defining cure in cancer, and colon cancer is no exception. Although recurrences of stage II and III colon cancer are rare once patients survive 5 years after treatment, no clear definition of a cure exists. As a result, most patients continue to undergo long-term surveillance for the disease.</p><p>Scientists note that neither relapse-free survival nor disease-free survival provides a precise definition of a cure. Instead, they emphasize the need for a specific endpoint that focuses only on local and distant recurrences of the primary colon cancer that is assessed over an extended follow-up period. These would be study endpoints for clinical trials versus actual definitions of a cancer cure.</p><p>In a pooled analysis of 15 randomized clinical trials, researchers attempted to determine a definition of a cure in stage II and III colon cancer after surgery and adjuvant therapy. The primary objective was to determine the point at which cancer recurrence risk becomes negligible, which was predefined as a threshold of 1%. Findings showed that a recurrence risk below 0.5% at 6 years after treatment provides a clinically meaningful definition of a cure.</p><p>The study appears in <i>JAMA Oncology</i> (doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.3760).</p><p>All patients in the trials underwent radical surgery for colon cancer and received adjuvant chemotherapy. They had a median follow-up of at least 6 years. Researchers assessed the Adjuvant Colon Cancer Endpoints and International Duration Evaluation of Adjuvant Chemotherapy databases that included adjuvant studies conducted between 1996 and 2015. Chemotherapy regimens varied across the trials and included fluoropyrimidines alone or in combination with oxaliplatin or biologic agents.</p><p>Of the 35,213 patients included in the analysis, 54.9% were male, and the mean age was 60.2 years. In the original studies, disease and survival follow-up included imaging every 6 months during the first 3 years and then annually afterward, which is the standard of care. Long-term recurrences and survival outcomes were captured by all trials, whereas secondary primary cancer data were reported in a subset of trials.</p><p>The rate of recurrence (6.4%) peaked between 6 and 12 months after treatment. It decreased continuously until year 10 of follow-up and never exceeded 0.5%. Appearing to increase again after year 10, the recurrence rate peaked at 2.0% between 12.5 and 13 years; however, that pattern was observed only in the MOSAIC trial, which assessed adding oxaliplatin to fluorouracil plus leucovorin to treat metastatic colon cancer. Researchers determined through competing-event analysis that death and secondary primary tumors inflated that increased recurrence rate, particularly in older patients.</p><p>The overall cumulative incidence of relapse with death as a competing risk was lower in female patients (hazard ratio, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.45–0.76; <i>p</i> < .001).</p><p","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3322/caac.70064","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146778470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PORTEC-3 trial finds that adjuvant chemoradiotherapy significantly improves 10-year survival for patients with high-risk endometrial cancer","authors":"Carrie Printz","doi":"10.3322/caac.70063","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70063","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Approximately 15%–20% of patients with high-risk endometrial cancer present with high-risk disease, and they have an increased risk of recurrence and death. The standard adjuvant treatment for this group is pelvic radiation therapy. In the international PORTEC-3 trial, researchers sought to determine whether adding chemotherapy to pelvic radiotherapy would improve overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) for these patients.</p><p>Results from a 10-year follow-up study, published in <i>The Lancet Oncology</i> (doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(25)00379-1), support earlier 5-year findings: Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy significantly improves outcomes in patients with high-risk endometrial cancer in comparison with radiotherapy alone.</p><p>In addition, researchers reported primary outcomes by molecular subgroup in a post hoc analysis. Molecular classification of tumors was available for 62% of the patients. They found that patients with <i>p53</i>-abnormal cancers benefited the most from chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone.</p><p>“It’s very reassuring that the long-term results confirm a persistent overall survival benefit to using chemoradiotherapy in stage III and <i>p53</i>-mutated disease,” says Gini Fleming, MD, medical director of gynecologic oncology at the University of Chicago Medicine in Illinois. “Although the subset analysis of molecular subtypes (other than <i>p53</i> mutant) is very promising, I do not think this update will be able to change practice at this point.”</p><p>PORTEC-3 was an open-label, randomized, international phase 3 trial. Between November 2006 and December 2013, 660 eligible and evaluable patients were recruited at 103 centers in six clinical groups across seven countries. The median follow-up was 10.1 years.</p><p>Eligible participants had high-risk endometrial cancer, which was defined as (1) endometrioid histology stage I (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics 2009) and grade 3 with deep myometrial invasion and/or any lymphovascular space invasion, (2) endometrioid stage II or III, or (3) stage I–III with serous or clear-cell histology. Participants were 18 years old or older and had a World Health Organization performance score of 0–2. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to either pelvic radiotherapy (48.6 Gy in 1.8-Gy fractions; <i>n</i> = 330) or chemoradiotherapy (<i>n</i> = 330), which included radiotherapy combined with two cycles of cisplatin (50 mg/m<sup>2</sup> intravenously in Weeks 1 and 4) followed by four cycles of carboplatin (area under the curve = 5) and paclitaxel (175 mg/m<sup>2</sup> intravenously at 3-week intervals).</p><p>Molecular analysis was performed for 411 patients (62%): 210 patients (64%) in the chemoradiotherapy group and 201 patients (61%) in the radiotherapy group.</p><p>Findings showed that the estimated 10-year OS rate was 74.4% (95% CI, 69.8–79.4) in the chemoradiotherapy group and 67.3% (95% CI, 62.3–72.7) in the radiotherapy group (adjusted hazard ","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3322/caac.70063","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146778469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to “Advances in the noninvasive diagnosis of melanoma—40 years beyond the ABCDs”","authors":"","doi":"10.3322/caac.70074","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70074","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Burshtein J, Witkowski A, Zakria D, et al. Advances in the noninvasive diagnosis of melanoma—40 years beyond the ABCDs. CA Cancer J Clin. 2026;e70065. doi:10.3322/caac.70065</p><p>Table 1 and Table 2 were incorrectly switched. Table 1, “First- and second-level non-invasive detection devices for triage of pigmented skin lesions”, should be:</p><p>Table 2, “Comparison of Dermoscopy Algorithms”, should be:</p><p>Additionally, the affiliation of Joanna Ludzik was reported incorrectly. The correct affiliation should read: Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.</p><p>We apologize for these errors.</p>","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3322/caac.70074","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146223198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advances in the noninvasive diagnosis of melanoma—40 years beyond the ABCDs","authors":"Joshua Burshtein MD,&nbsp;Alexander Witkowski MD, PhD,&nbsp;Danny Zakria MD, MBA,&nbsp;Milaan Shah MD,&nbsp;Angela Rosenberg DO,&nbsp;Lauren DeBusk MD,&nbsp;Joanna Ludzik MD, PhD,&nbsp;Giovanni Pellacani MD,&nbsp;Darrell Rigel MD, MS","doi":"10.3322/caac.70065","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70065","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The early detection of cutaneous melanoma is critical to survival outcomes. Because less than one half of melanomas in the United States are diagnosed by dermatologists, the ABCD (asymmetry, border irregularity, color variation, diameter &gt;6 mm) acronym, created 40 years ago with the later addition of “E” for evolution (ABCDE), was developed for nondermatologist health care professionals and the public to simplify and enhance the diagnosis of early melanoma. It continues to be the global, naked-eye, nondevice-assisted standard for initial triage of pigmented lesions. This clinical review discusses the changing clinical diagnostic landscape and examines the currently available first-line and second-line detection modalities for melanoma. It also provides updates to the first-line triage approach and discusses the challenges of regulatory agency oversight for the safe and effective use of current and emerging skin cancer detection technologies. It is critical that health care professionals globally have knowledge of these technologies to enhance their diagnosis of melanoma.</p>","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12856975/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146083776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to “Advanced Urologic Cancer Consensus Conference (AUC3) 2025: Expert consensus on the management of renal cell and urinary tract cancers”","authors":"","doi":"10.3322/caac.70070","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70070","url":null,"abstract":"<p>McKay RR, Pal S, Xie W, et al. Advanced Urologic Cancer Consensus Conference (AUC3) 2025: expert consensus on the management of renal cell and urinary tract cancers. <i>CA Cancer J Clin</i>. 2026;e70052. doi:10.3322/caac.70052</p><p>Please note that Oleksandr N. Kryvenko’s middle initial was omitted in the originally published version of this article.</p><p>We apologize for this error.</p>","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12857780/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146083773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to “Self-collected vaginal specimens for human papillomavirus testing and guidance on screening exit: An update to the American Cancer Society cervical cancer screening guideline”","authors":"","doi":"10.3322/caac.70066","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70066","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Perkins RB, Wolf AMD, Church TR, et al. Self-collected vaginal specimens for human papillomavirus testing and guidance on screening exit: An update to the American Cancer Society cervical cancer screening guideline. <i>CA Cancer J Clin</i>. 2026;e70041. doi:10.3322/caac.70041</p><p>In this article by Perkins, et al., there is an incorrect statement in Table 2 at column 3, row 4.</p><p>The original text read:</p><p>“Does not qualify for screening exit; very limited data.”</p><p>The statement should read:</p><p>“May qualify for screening exit; very limited data.”</p><p>In Table 2, the footnote was incorrectly stated. The correct footnote should read:</p><p>“Abbreviations: ACOG, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; AIS, adenocarcinoma in situ; ASCCP, American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology; CIN, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; CIN2, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2; CIN3, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HPV, human papillomavirus; HSIL, high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; LSIL, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion.”</p><p>In Table 3, the footnote was incorrectly stated. The correct footnote should read:</p><p>“Abbreviations: CIN3+, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or worse; FDA, US Food and Drug Administration; HPV, human papillomavirus.”</p><p>On page 3 first column, “or the Abbott Alinity m with the Evalyn Brush or Qvintip swab (part of simpli-COLLECT kit)” should not be italicized.</p><p>We apologize for these errors.</p>","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12851406/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146058355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction: The evolving treatment landscape for locally advanced and metastatic disease in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors and biomarker-driven therapeutics","authors":"Laura V. M. Baum MD,&nbsp;Kimberly L. Johung MD, PhD,&nbsp;Joanna Gibson MD,&nbsp;Gabriel Cartagena PhD,&nbsp;Daniel J. Boffa MD,&nbsp;Jill Lacy MD","doi":"10.3322/caac.70050","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70050","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;This patient is a man aged 55 years with a past medical history significant for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, post-traumatic stress (PTS) disorder, opioid use disorder on maintenance therapy, and tobacco dependence. He presented to the emergency department in 2023 with progressive dysphagia to solid food over 3 months. He did not report hematemesis, respiratory difficulties, or weight loss. His Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status was 0. A complete metabolic profile and blood count were normal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He underwent urgent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which revealed a near complete obstructing esophageal mass at the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ), extending proximally 5 cm into the distal esophagus; biopsy confirmed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (Figure 1). The tumor was negative for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu), mismatch-repair (MMR) proteins were intact (not shown), and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) was detectable with a combined positive score (CPS) of 5–9 (Figure 1).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Staging computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis revealed nodular thickening of the GEJ and upper abdominal lymphadenopathy, with gastrohepatic nodes measuring up to 1 cm, prominent nodes adjacent to the gastric cardia, and a nonspecific, prominent, subcentimeter left periaortic node; there was no definitive evidence of distant metastases. On subsequent endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), the tumor was staged as clinical stage T3 and N2 (cT3N2) by sonographic criteria. Subsequent fluorodeoxyglucose–positron emission tomography (PET)/CT revealed a hypermetabolic distal esophageal GEJ (E/GEJ) mass as well as hypermetabolic upper abdominal and left axillary lymph nodes (Figure 2A,B). Biopsy of the left axillary node showed reactive lymphoid tissue in the setting of recent coronavirus disease vaccination.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He underwent staging laparoscopy, which showed no evidence of occult peritoneal carcinomatosis. Thus the final clinical stage was cT3N2M0 stage III adenocarcinoma of the GEJ according the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th Edition clinical staging system for esophageal and GEJ adenocarcinoma.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After consultation with thoracic surgery and a multidisciplinary gastrointestinal tumor board discussion, the consensus was to proceed with curative-intent trimodality treatment with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by esophagectomy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Because of severe dysphagia, the patient was treated initially with three cycles of induction chemotherapy with folinic acid (leucovorin), fluorouracil and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX; according to the Cancer and Leukemia Group B [CALGB] 80803 trial&lt;span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt;) with marked improvement in symptoms, followed by neoadjuvant CRT (radiotherapy [RT] with concurrent FOLFOX for three cycles). Postneoadjuvant therapy PET imaging revealed marked interval decrease in size and metabolic activity of the distal E/GEJ mass and resolution of fluo","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12812016/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145994123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cancer statistics, 2026","authors":"Rebecca L. Siegel MPH,&nbsp;Tyler B. Kratzer MPH,&nbsp;Nikita Sandeep Wagle PhD, MBBS, MHA,&nbsp;Hyuna Sung PhD,&nbsp;Ahmedin Jemal DVM, PhD","doi":"10.3322/caac.70043","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70043","url":null,"abstract":"<p>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 data collected by central cancer registries (incidence, through 2022) and the National Center for Health Statistics (mortality, through 2023). In 2026, approximately 2,114,850 new cancer cases and 626,140 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States. The cancer mortality rate continued to decline through 2023, averting 4.8 million deaths since 1991, largely because of smoking reductions, earlier detection, and improved treatment. These interventions are also evident in rising 5-year relative survival, which reached a milestone 70% for diagnoses during 2015–2021 overall, 69% for regional-stage disease, and 35% for distant-stage (metastatic) disease, up from 63%, 54%, and 17%, respectively, in the mid-1990s. People with high-mortality cancers and advanced diagnoses had the largest gains, including increases from 32% to 62% for myeloma, 7% to 22% for liver cancer, 16% to 35% for metastatic melanoma, 8% to 18% for metastatic rectal cancer, 20% to 37% for regional lung cancer, and 2% to 10% for metastatic lung cancer. Nevertheless, lung cancer will cause more deaths in 2026 than second-ranking colorectal cancer and third-ranking pancreatic cancer combined. In summary, decades of scientific investment have translated to longer lives for people with even the most fatal cancers. However, continued progress is threatened by proposed federal cuts to cancer research and health insurance, which provides access to life-saving cancer treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3322/caac.70043","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145956226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cancer statistics, 2026: Charting a course for a national cancer research agenda","authors":"Primo N. Lara Jr MD,&nbsp;Dawn L. Hershman MD, MS","doi":"10.3322/caac.70061","DOIUrl":"10.3322/caac.70061","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;In this issue of &lt;i&gt;CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians&lt;/i&gt;, the American Cancer Society (ACS) delivers its highly anticipated annual portrait of the nation's cancer burden.&lt;span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt; As in previous years, this authoritative and widely cited report draws on data from every state and the District of Columbia, aggregating data from cancer registries and the National Center for Health Statistics to provide the most comprehensive and detailed view of cancer incidence, mortality, demographics, and disparities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 2026, the ACS estimates that there will be more than 2.1 million new cancer diagnoses (or about 5800 cases daily) in the United States. In men, the most common malignancies continue to be prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers; in women, breast, lung, and colorectal cancers are most common. Yet this year's projections also bring some troubling trends: more men with prostate cancer will be diagnosed at advanced stages, in which a cure is less attainable; breast cancer incidence continues to rise, especially among women younger than 50 years; and colorectal cancer is also increasing in adults younger than 50 years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Counterbalancing these concerns is a profoundly encouraging trend: cancer mortality in the United States continues its long, steady decline. Since 1991, cancer death rates have fallen by 34%, translating to 4.8 million lives saved. This extraordinary progress reflects decades of iterative and transformative advances in cancer research and the implementation of those findings into prevention, screening, and clinical care. In short, research saves lives!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the case of publicly funded clinical trials conducted through the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), this progress has also been remarkably cost effective. In a study of NCTN trials since 1980, approximately 14.2 million additional life-years were gained by patients with cancer, with projected gains of 24.1 million life-years by 2030. Incredibly, the federal investment cost per life-year gained was estimated to be just $326.&lt;span&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These ACS projections have provided a rigorous, empirical foundation for shaping, prioritizing, and implementing research strategies across both laboratory and clinical settings. They also clarify where our knowledge falls short and expose where cancer health disparities persist. In spotlighting malignancies with rising incidence, stubbornly high mortality, or persistent inequities, these data direct researchers to focus efforts on the most urgent unmet needs in cancer research, ensuring that progress will have a profound impact on patients and communities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Within the United States research ecosystem of federally funded clinical trials, the NCI's NCTN, Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network (ETCTN), and Cancer Centers Program all play pivotal roles in translating the ACS's cancer statistics into actionable research. Within the NCTN cooper","PeriodicalId":137,"journal":{"name":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":232.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3322/caac.70061","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145956224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}