Breaking News Study Finds Lung Cancer Screening May Not Reduce Deaths. See Special Report on new lung cancer research.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) published in the February 28 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) have provided the first national estimate of the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among women in the United States aged 14 to 59. Investigators found that a total of 26.8 percent of women overall tested positive for one or more strains of HPV.

Overall prevalence included both low-risk and high-risk HPV types. Low-risk types of HPV can cause genital warts or other nonmalignant conditions. High-risk types of HPV can cause cervical cancer, and up to 70 percent of cervical cancers worldwide are caused by two high-risk strains alone - HPV types 16 and 18.  Read more  

The remarkable decline in smoking rates over the past several decades is a testament to the excellent work of many in the cancer and public health communities. But that does not mean our work on this front is complete.

According to the most recent data, about 21 percent of U.S. adults were current smokers in 2005, but smoking rates were much higher among certain populations, including people with less education and those living in poverty. Tobacco companies, meanwhile, continue to introduce new products, some of which claim to be "reduced harm," and some of the nation's largest cigarette manufacturers are now even getting into the smokeless tobacco market.  Read more  

The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads the national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases. For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov. NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.