Causes and Prevention Research
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No Safe Level of Smoking: Even low-intensity smokers are at increased risk of earlier deathPosted: December 5, 2016
People who consistently smoked an average of less than one cigarette per day over their lifetimes had a 64 percent higher risk of earlier death than people who never smoked.
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CDC Updates Recommendations on HPV VaccinePosted: November 14, 2016
Updated CDC recommendations advise those younger than age 15 need only two doses of the HPV vaccine instead of three.
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Adolescents Who Wouldn’t Have Smoked May Be Drawn to E-CigarettesPosted: August 11, 2016
The findings from a recent study suggest that adolescents are not just using e-cigarettes as a substitute for conventional cigarettes but that e-cigarettes are attracting new users to tobacco products.
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Setting the Stage for the Next Decade of Tobacco Control ResearchPosted: July 5, 2016
A new report from an NCI working group lays out recommended priorities to help shape the institute’s future tobacco control research portfolio.
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Increased Physical Activity Associated with Lower Risk of 13 Types of CancerPosted: May 16, 2016
A new study of the relationship between physical activity and cancer has shown that greater levels of leisure-time physical activity were associated with a lower risk of developing 13 different types of cancer; the risk of developing seven cancer types was 20 percent lower among the most active participants as compared with the least active participants.
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Improving Public Health through Increased Tobacco RegulationPosted: May 10, 2016
NCI’s Dr. Robert Croyle discusses the Food and Drug Administration’s release of a rule that extends its regulatory authority over tobacco products to include cigars, e-cigarettes, hookah (waterpipe) tobacco.
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HPV Infections Targeted by Vaccine Decrease in U.S.Posted: March 9, 2016
Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) types targeted by the quadrivalent HPV vaccine has declined by nearly two-thirds among teenage girls since HPV vaccination was recommended in the United States.
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Mouse Study Points to Mechanism Linking Obesity and Colorectal Cancer RiskPosted: February 8, 2016
A missing hormone in obese mice may help explain a longstanding association between obesity and an increased risk of colorectal cancer in humans.
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Antioxidants Accelerate the Growth and Invasiveness of Tumors in MicePosted: November 12, 2015
Metastatic tumor cells are particularly sensitive to oxidative stress, and antioxidant supplementation increases their ability to grow and metastasize.
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CRISPR: Genome Editing Comes of AgePosted: September 23, 2015
A technique for gene editing known as CRISPR-Cas9 has made it much easier and faster for cancer researchers to study mutations and test new therapeutic targets.
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No Easy Answers about Whether Aspirin Lowers Cancer RiskUpdated: April 9, 2015
Numerous studies over the last two decades have suggested that taking aspirin on a regular basis may substantially lower a person’s risk of developing or dying from cancer, but more formal research is needed.
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Smoking’s Disease Burden: Worse than Previously Thought?Posted: March 16, 2015
According to a new study, smoking may be responsible for far more deaths each year than previously thought.
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Gardasil 9 Vaccine Protects against Additional HPV TypesPosted: March 2, 2015
In a large randomized clinical trial, a new human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine effectively prevented infection and disease caused by nine high-risk HPV types, including seven types that cause cervical and other cancers—five of which were not covered by the previously available HPV vaccines—and two types that cause genital warts.
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Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Plummets, but Disparities PersistPosted: February 13, 2015
Second-hand smoke exposure has fallen by 50 percent since 1999, a new study finds, but millions are still routinely exposed to secondhand smoke.
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Study Shows Elevated Number of Cancers in US HIV Positive PopulationPosted: February 9, 2015
In 2010, an estimated 7,760 new cancers were diagnosed among the nearly 900,000 Americans known to be living with HIV infection. According to the first comprehensive study in the United States, approximately half of these cancers were in excess of what would be expected if HIV-infected people had the same cancer risk as the general population.
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Report Offers Comprehensive Look at Global Smokeless Tobacco UsePosted: January 7, 2015
The first report of its kind finds that more than 300 million people worldwide use smokeless tobacco products and that they are linked to a number of cancers.
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More than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use smokeless tobaccoPosted: December 15, 2014
The first-ever report on the global use and public health impact of smokeless tobacco finds that more than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use these harmful products. The report is titled Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health: A Global Perspective.
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Debate, Research on E-Cigarettes ContinuePosted: December 11, 2014
Since they first began to be sold in North America in the mid-2000s, electronic cigarettes have been the subject of intense debate. NCI's Dr. Michele Bloch recently presented an update on some of the issues surrounding e-cigarettes.
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Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccines: An Interview with Douglas R. Lowy, M.D.Posted: November 20, 2014
NCI’s Dr. Doug Lowy discusses HPV vaccines, including their efficacy, safety, and the development of next-generation vaccines.
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NCI scientists find protective mechanism against cancer in the cells of progeria patientsPosted: October 2, 2014
NCI scientists have studied cells of patients with an extremely rare genetic disease that is characterized by drastic premature aging and discovered a new protective cellular mechanism against cancer. They found that cells from patients with Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), who typically do not develop cancer, contain a tumor protection mechanism that is mediated by BRD4.
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NCI study finds extreme obesity may shorten life expectancy up to 14 yearsPosted: July 8, 2014
Extremely obese people have increased risks of dying from cancer and many other causes including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney and liver diseases, according to results of an analysis of data pooled from 20 large studies of people from three countries.
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Fewer doses of HPV vaccine result in immune response similar to three-dose regimenPosted: November 4, 2013
NCI scientists report that two doses of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, trademarked as Cervarix, resulted in similar serum antibody levels against two of the most carcinogenic types of HPV (16 and 18), compared to a standard three dose regimen.
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New understanding of oral HPV infections in healthy menPosted: July 2, 2013
Scientists report that newly acquired oral HPV infections in healthy men are uncommon and, when present, tend to go away within one year.
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The potential of large studies for building genetic risk prediction modelsPosted: March 4, 2013
NCI scientists have developed a new paradigm to assess hereditary risk prediction in common diseases, such as prostate cancer. This genetic risk prediction concept is based on polygenic analysis—the study of a group of common DNA sequences, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), each of which contributes a very small amount to overall disease risk, but has a strong effect when grouped together.
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DNA breaks early in replication process associated with B cell cancersPosted: January 24, 2013
Research by scientists at the NCI has identified a new class of DNA sites in cells that break early in the replication process. They found that these break sites correlate with damage often seen in B cell cancers, such as diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
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NIH study finds leisure-time physical activity extends life expectancy as much as 4.5 yearsPosted: November 6, 2012
Leisure-time physical activity is associated with longer life expectancy, even at relatively low levels of activity and regardless of body weight, according to a study by a team of researchers led by the NCI. The study, which found that people who engaged in leisure-time physical activity had life expectancy gains of as much as 4.5 years, appeared Nov. 6, 2012, in PLoS Medicine.
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HIV infection connected to rising anal cancer rates in men in the U.S.Posted: October 5, 2012
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection contributes substantially to the epidemic of anal cancer in men, but not women in the United States, according to new research from NCI. Chart shows overall incidence rates of anal cancers in general population with dashed line showing those with HIV infection.
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A Conversation with Dr. Walter Willett about Diet and CancerPosted: August 7, 2012
Dr. Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about how views on diet and cancer risk have evolved.
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NIH study finds childhood CT scans linked to leukemia and brain cancer later in lifePosted: June 7, 2012
Children and young adults scanned multiple times by computed tomography (CT), a commonly used diagnostic tool, have a small increased risk of leukemia and brain tumors in the decade following their first scan.
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Report to the nation finds continuing declines in cancer death rates since the early 1990s; Feature highlights cancers associated with excess weight and lack of sufficient physical activityPosted: March 28, 2012
Death rates from all cancers combined for men, women, and children continued to decline in the United States between 2004 and 2008, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2008. The overall rate of new cancer diagnoses, also known as incidence, among men decreased by an average of 0.6 percent per year between 2004 and 2008. Overall cancer incidence rates among women declined 0.5 percent per year from 1998 through 2006 with rates leveling off from 2006 through 2008.
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New report highlights epidemic of tobacco and global health inequalitiesPosted: March 21, 2012
A new set of 11 global health studies calls attention to the burden of tobacco-related inequalities in low- and middle-income countries and finds that socioeconomic inequalities are associated with increased tobacco use, second-hand smoke exposure and tobacco-related cancer and diseases among disadvantaged populations in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
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Second HPV Vaccine Shows Early Positive ResultsUpdated: December 2, 2011
The vaccine Cervarix® was 90 percent effective against two types of human papillomavirus (HPV) that can cause cervical cancer, according to the June 30, 2007, Lancet.
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Uncovering the Mechanisms Linking Obesity and Cancer RiskPosted: November 15, 2011
What biological processes mediate the relationship between excess body fat and increased cancer risk? Researchers are examining how hormones, inflammation, signaling molecules, and other biological factors may play a role in cancer progression.
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Uncovering the Biology of Cancers in Adolescents and Young AdultsPosted: July 26, 2011
Evidence suggests that some adolescent and young adult cancers may have unique genetic and biological features. Researchers are trying to better understand the biology of these cancers in order to identify potential therapeutic targets.
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A Conversation with Dr. Martha Linet about Cell Phone Use and Cancer RiskPosted: June 28, 2011
Dr. Martha Linet, chief of the Radiation Epidemiology Branch in NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, answers questions about ongoing research to study mobile phone use and cancer risk.
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Despite Early Skepticism, HPV Vaccines Prove EffectivePosted: May 31, 2011
The human papillomaviruses responsible for virtually all cases of cervical cancer have characteristics that make the viruses particularly amenable to vaccine development. This article describes the research that went into developing two vaccines that have been approved by the FDA.
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Radically Reducing Radiation Exposure during Routine Medical ImagingPosted: March 8, 2011
Exposure to radiation from medical imaging in the United States has increased dramatically. NCI and several partner organizations sponsored a 2011 summit to promote efforts to reduce radiation exposure from medical imaging.