New on NCI’s Websites for December 2021
, by NCI Staff
NCI’s collection of cancer information products is constantly growing, so we provide periodic updates on new and updated content of interest to the cancer community.
Videos: The First Lady and NCI on the 50th Anniversary of the National Cancer Act
The signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971 on December 23 of that year opened the door to 50 years of tremendous progress in the nation’s fight against cancer. Two new videos commemorate that progress and look ahead to the promise of further advances. In the first, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden highlights how the investment in people and science spurred by the National Cancer Act has led to many important advances, and she describes the administration’s commitment to ending cancer as we know it. The second video outlines the progress in areas like prevention, treatment, and survivorship and NCI’s plans to build on these advances and ensure progress across all cancers and for all people.
News Release: Drug Combination Helps Children with APL Avoid Conventional Chemotherapy
A Children’s Oncology Group clinical trial has found that the combination of all-trans retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide is highly effective in children with standard- and high-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia, or APL. Nearly all patients in the trial survived for 2 years without their cancer returning.
News Release: High-Fiber Diet May Improve Melanoma Patients’ Response to Immunotherapy
A diet rich in fiber may help some people being treated for melanoma respond to immunotherapy treatment by influencing the gut microbiome, according to a new study led by researchers at NCI’s Center for Cancer Research and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results from the study, which analyzed both people with melanoma and mouse models of the disease, appeared December 24, 2021, in Science.
Studies Focus on Testing Family Members of People with Cancer-Related Genetic Changes
If your family member had cancer, would you want to know if you carry a genetic mutation that increases your risk of the same cancer? This question is at the heart of three research projects underway to determine the best way for researchers to find relatives of women previously diagnosed with ovarian cancer so they can decide whether to get genetic testing and counseling about their own risk of cancer.
NCI Bottom Line Blog: Familiar Fiscal Challenges for NCI
On December 2, Congress passed a new continuing resolution to provide funding for the federal government at fiscal year 2021 levels until February 18. In this blog post, NCI Director Norman Sharpless, M.D., explains what the continuing resolution means for NCI’s grantee community and how it affects both competing and noncompeting grants.
Center for Global Health Website Refresh
Cancer is a global public health priority. Given that NCI is the world’s leading supporter of cancer research, it has a unique role to play in generating knowledge and contributing to the global control of cancer. The Center for Global Health (CGH), NCI’s global health hub, recently launched its newly redesigned and enhanced website. The refreshed site features new and expanded content, tools for social media sharing, and much more.
NCIDose Radiation Dosimetry Tools
The NCIDose collection of medical radiation dosimetry tools allow researchers to estimate the dose of radiation a patient received while undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. These tools, developed by health physicists from NCI’s Radiation Epidemiology Branch in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, are available free of charge for noncommercial research purposes.
Video: The Effect of Diet and Exercise on Immunotherapy and the Microbiome (EDEN Study)
NCI’s Center for Cancer Research is conducting a trial to investigate the link between diet, exercise, and changes in the gut microbiome that may improve the efficacy of immunotherapy. The Effect of Diet and Exercise on Immunotherapy and the Microbiome (EDEN) clinical trial will enroll people with melanoma that cannot be removed by surgery. All visits will be conducted via telehealth, so participants can enroll from anywhere and will not need to travel to a trial site.
Video: Discovering Drivers of Childhood Cancer
Dr. Kimberly Stegmaier of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute describes the progress her research team has made in Ewing sarcoma. Her team's work targeting the EWS-FLI fusion, one of the fusion oncoproteins that drives childhood cancers, addresses one of the recommendations made by the Cancer Moonshot℠ Blue Ribbon Panel.
Cancer in Children and Adolescents
NCI’s Cancer in Children fact sheet has been revised and expanded to include information about cancer in adolescents, including updated statistics. Information was also added about racial and ethnic differences in rates of common cancers in this age group, potential causes of cancer in children and adolescents, genetic studies and testing, and navigating care for long-term survivors.