The 2019 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer finds overall cancer death rates continue to decline and cancer incidence dropped in men and remained stable in women. A special section reports on recent cancer trends in younger adults.

Findings from a new NCI study of patients who received radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment for hyperthyroidism show an association between the dose of treatment and long-term risk of death from solid cancers, including breast cancer.

Nearly half of phase 3 cancer clinical trials carried out by the NCI-sponsored SWOG Cancer Research Network were associated with clinical care guidelines or new drug approvals, a study in JAMA Network Open shows.

Testing for prostate cancer with a combined biopsy method led to more accurate diagnosis and prediction of the course of the disease in an NCI study. The method is poised to reduce the risk of prostate cancer overtreatment and undertreatment.

The 2020 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer finds overall cancer death rates continue to decline in the United States for all cancer sites combined. A companion study looked at Healthy People 2020 targets for four common cancers.

The genome from a cancerous cell line that's been living for millenia, Opportinty's first 10 years on Mars, and a daily news roundup.

BRCA1 turns 20; roundup of daily news with David Grimm.

Online News Editor David Grimm shares stories on how our abilities shape our minds, killing cancer cells with gold nanoparticles, and catching art forgery with cat hair.   Laura Blanton joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how nourishing our gut microbes may prevent malnutrition. Read the related research in Science.   [Image: D. S. Wagner et al., Biomaterials, 31 (2010)]   Authors: Sarah Crespi; David Grimm

Online news editor David Grimm shares stories on evidence for the earth being hit by supernovae, record-breaking xenotransplantation, and winning friends and influencing people with human sacrifice.   Staff news writer Jocelyn Kaiser joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how small membrane-bound packets called “exosomes” might pave the way for cancer cells to move into new territory in the body.     [Image: Val Altounian/Science]    

This week, we chat about a surprising reason why killer whales undergo menopause, flipping a kill switch in mice with lasers, and Fukushima residents who measured their own radiation exposure[link tk], with Online News Editor Catherine Matacic. Plus, Science’s Alexa Billow talks to Stephen Elledge about the relationship between chromosomal abnormalities in tumors and immunotherapy for cancer.   Listen to previous podcasts.   [Image: Copyright Kenneth Balcomb Center for Whale Research; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

David Grimm—online news editor for Science—talks with Sarah Crespi about a long-term project monitoring raccoon latrines in California. What influence do these wild bathrooms have on the ecosystem? Sarah also interviews Christian Jobin of the University of Florida in Gainesville about his Perspective on three papers linking the success of cancer immunotherapy with microbes in the gut—it turns out which bacteria live in a cancer patient’s intestines can predict their response to this cutting-edge cancer treatment. Read the related papers: Routy et al., Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1–based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors, Science 2018 Gopalakrishnan et al., Gut microbiome modulates response to anti–PD-1 immunotherapy in melanoma patients, Science 2018 Matson et al., The commensal microbiome is associated with anti–PD-1 efficacy in metastatic melanoma patients, Science 2018 aan4236 Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: cuatrok77/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Host Sarah Crespi talks with Staff Writer Daniel Clery about the many, many theories surrounding fast radio bursts—extremely fast, intense radio signals from outside the galaxy—and a new telescope coming online that may help sort them out. Also this week, Sarah talks with Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel about her story on researchers’ attempts to tackle the long-term effects of pediatric cancer treatment. The survival rate for some pediatric cancers is as high as 90%, but many survivors have a host of health problems. Jennifer’s feature is part of a special section on pediatric cancer. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy. Download a transcript (PDF) Listen to previous podcasts. About the Science Podcast [Image: ESO/L. Calçada; Music: Jeffrey Cook] 

After two mysterious earthquake swarms occurred under the Sea of Galilee, researchers found a relationship between these small quakes and the excessive extraction of groundwater. Science journalist Michael Price talks with host Sarah Crespi about making this connection and what it means for water-deprived fault areas like the Sea of Galilee and the state of California. Also this week, Sarah talks with graduate student Adrian Baez-Ortega from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom’s Transmissible Cancer Group about the genome of a canine venereal cancer that has been leaping from dog to dog for about 8000 years. By comparing the genomes of this cancer from dogs around the globe, the researchers were able to learn more about its origins and spread around the world. They also discuss how such a long-lived cancer might help them better understand and treat human cancers. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy. Ads on this week’s show: Science Sessions podcast from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Download the transcript (PDF) Listen to previous podcasts. About the Science Podcast

On this week’s show, Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a Science paper that combines two hot areas of research—CRISPR gene editing and immunotherapy for cancer—and tests it in patients. Sarah also talks with Damien Finch, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, about the Kimberly region of Australia and dating its ice age cave paintings using charcoal from nearby wasp nests. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy. Listen to previous podcasts. About the Science Podcast Download a transcript (PDF).

Staff Writer Jocelyn Kaiser joins Sarah to talk about a recent Science paper describing the results of a large study on a blood test for multiple types of cancer. The trial’s results suggest such a blood test combined with follow-up scans may help detect cancers early, but there is a danger of too many false positives. And postdoctoral researcher Timo Reinhold of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research joins Sarah to talk about his paper on how the Sun is a lot less variable in its magnetic activity compared with similar stars—what does it mean that our Sun is a little bit boring? This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. Listen to previous podcasts. About the Science Podcast Download a transcript (PDF).

Experts call for free parking at cancer centers for patients, because these parking fees can mount up and become a real burden those undergoing frequent treatment sessions.
Medscape Medical News

Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis has been understudied for years, and its increasing prevalence now has researchers working overtime to make much-needed progress in its treatment.
Medscape Oncology

These are the most important oncology stories you need to know about today.
Medscape Medical News

Use of some cancer screening and monitoring tests came to 'a near standstill' in early April in the US, a new report indicates.
Medscape Medical News

Since 2018, there has been a 20.8% increase in practices merging or being acquired, and more recently they have also taken a beating from COVID-19.
Medscape Medical News

These are the most important oncology stories you need to know about today.
Medscape Medical News

Basket trials and 'just in time' trials are two new options to target actionable genetic mutations in cancer, regardless of tumor type.
Medscape Oncology

A comparison of stage at cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment rates between people with HIV (PWH) and the general US population is needed to identify any disparities by HIV status.

The embattled Gehlot sees his free medicine scheme as his best weapon in Rajasthan polls.

Grinyer, Anne, 1950-

This study uses mendelian randomization to estimate the associations between genetic variants related to reduced HMG-CoA reductase activity and epithelial ovarian cancer in the general population and in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers.

Interview with Nora Pashayan, BSc MSc MSt MD PhD FFPH, author of Cost-effectiveness and Benefit-to-Harm Ratio of Risk-Stratified Screening for Breast Cancer: A Life-Table Model

Interview with Daniel Scott. Reuland, MD MPH, author of Evaluating Shared Decision Making for Lung Cancer Screening, and Bruno Heleno, MD, PhD, author of Estimation of Overdiagnosis of Lung Cancer in Low-Dose Computed Tomography Screening

Interview with Brooke Nickel and Juan Brito, MD, MSc, authors of Effect of a Change in Papillary Thyroid Cancer Terminology on Anxiety Levels and Treatment Preferences: A Randomized Crossover Trial

Interview with Katherine A. Hutcheson, PhD, author of Symptom Burden Associated With Late Lower Cranial Neuropathy in Long-term Oropharyngeal Cancer Survivors

Interview with Mollie E. Barnard, ScD, and Shelley Tworoger, PhD, authors of Association of Analgesic Use With Risk of Ovarian Cancer in the Nurses’ Health Studies, and Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH, author of Association Between Aspirin Use and Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Interview with Julia Baudry, PhD, author of Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer Risk: Findings From the NutriNet-Santé Prospective Cohort Study, and Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, ScD, author of Organic Foods for Cancer Prevention—Worth the Investment?

Interview with Anthony D'Amico, MD, PhD, author of Surgery vs Radiotherapy in the Management of Biopsy Gleason Score 9-10 Prostate Cancer and the Risk of Mortality

Interview with Andrew J. Dannenberg, MD, author of Association of Body Fat and Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women With Normal Body Mass Index: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial and Observational Study

Interview with Joseph M. Unger, PhD, author of Association of Patient Comorbid Conditions With Cancer Clinical Trial Participation

Interview with David A. Palma, MD, PhD, author of Measuring the Integration of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Plus Surgery for Early-Stage Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Phase 2 Clinical Trial

Interview with Jeanne Tie, author of Prognostic Potential of Circulating Tumor DNA Measurement in Postoperative Surveillance of Nonmetastatic Colorectal Cancer

Interview with George F. Sawaya, MD, author of Estimated Quality of Life and Economic Outcomes Associated With 12 Cervical Cancer Screening Strategies: A Cost-effectiveness Analysis, and Sarah Feldman, M.D. M.P.H., author of Screening Options for Preventing Cervical Cancer

Interview with Kari A O Tikkinen, MD, PhD, author of Decision Aids for Prostate Cancer Screening Choice: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis