Patients are a part of the progress

Support groups can offer insights into current and potential treatments

Beyond connecting with patients with similar experiences, support groups can also become centers for advocacy and for sharing research advances and medical experiences, including potential side effects from novel therapies or clinical trials.

A snapshot of progress in cancer treatments

The American Association for Cancer Research's "Snapshot of a Year of Progress" offers an overview of significant advancements in cancer research and treatment over the past year. Take a quick look at the rapid pace of scientific discovery and the translation of research findings into clinical practice. In 2024 alone, health regulators approved 15 new anticancer therapies alone.

Lung cancer advances are making a big difference

Lung cancer deaths are declining faster than new cases due to advances in treatment. The progress illustrates what is possible, even for a cancer that has long had a poor prognosis.

Meeting someone with common healthcare challenges can be life-changing

The understanding that comes from meeting others who have similar experiences can provide hope that life can get better, the solace of affirmation, and make navigating a new diagnosis or a rare illness, in particular, much easier.

Timeline of cancer research milestones

While cancer remains incurable, there's been so much progress in its treatment over the last two decades. Nature provides an abridged history of milestones and major triumphs in cancer research and treatment. Start in the year 2000, and see how much has changed in the first quarter of the new millennium

Explore the National Cancer Institute's archive on cancer treatments, including complementary and alternative medicine.

What is cancer bioengineering?

While new treatments for cancer are under continuous development, researchers are increasingly using engineering principles to find wholly new strategies to combat the disease. Directions include nanoparticle drug delivery, advanced imaging tools, developing new materials to interact with cells, tissue engineering, robotic surgeries, and more. Such interdisciplinary efforts are expected to unlock new tools and therapies beyond traditional drug formulation.

Support groups offer support, safety, and the relief of common experience

Gathering—virtually or otherwise—with people going through a similar experience or navigating the same disease can make someone feel like they're part of a larger community. Participants can receive and offer support, and potentially learn tips that could improve their quality of life or lead them to other resources.

Physician teaches course on being a cancer patient

Stanford physician and professor Bryant Lin was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, a terminal diagnosis. Despite its difficult implications for his life, Lin embraced the chance to teach his students from the unique perspective of a lung cancer patient. The course explored the journey from diagnosis to treatment; how to respect a patient's physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions; and more.

About 40% of cancer cases are linked to preventable risk factors

Maintaining a healthy weight, engaging in regular physical activity, and consuming a balanced diet can lower cancer risk. Research indicates that about 40% of US cancer cases are linked to preventable factors, including poor diet and inactivity. Understanding these mechanisms empowers individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles for cancer prevention.

Genetic tests aren't always actionable, which is one reason genetic counselors are so vital

This podcast interview with a Harvard Medical School professor focused on cancer genetics and prevention discusses the specifics of genetic testing and insights and the challenges of processing the outcomes of the testing and what may be actionable—or not.

Positive role models are a benefit of support groups

Meeting individuals who are going through similar life experiences or navigating similar health journeys can provide inspiration and be a benefit of attending in-person or online support groups.

After a dementia diagnosis, it's important to plan ahead but also savor the moment

The next steps after a diagnosis include taking lifestyle steps to slow disease progression and completing legal paperwork about long-term medical preferences. It's also important to appreciate the moments and days ahead and find humor in them, when possible. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Cancer is typically broken down into four stages influenced by tumor size, the presence of cancerous cells in the lymph nodes, and the extent to which the malignancy has spread to other organs in the body.

Patient portals offer a good opportunity to track your healthcare records and communicate with doctors, but they also allow patients to see test results without context, which can cause unnecessary concern.

Frequently asked questions on immunotherapy

The Cancer Research Institute takes a close look at immunotherapy and its potential for treating cancer. Immunotherapy teaches the patient's own immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells. It's especially promising as an alternative for cancers that resist chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Have all your questions about the process and its promise here.

Precision medicine, offering the right treatment at the right time for individuals, integrates genomics, data analytics, and AI to predict risks, personalize treatments, and improve patient outcomes.

Many cancers arise from genetic mutations inherited from your parents

These mutations may happen in response to environmental or lifestyle factors, or may be passed down through family members. Genetic testing can be important in catching certain family cancers early and ensuring patients receive the right treatment for their disease.

Using psychedelics to manage a cancer diagnosis

Dr. Roland Griffiths helped lead the revival of psychedelic research, often prescribing the use of psilocybin to address severe depression or anxiety in patients. This podcast explores how Griffiths leaned on his own career after being diagnosed with cancer and facing the prospect of death.

How race science influences breast cancer research

Despite researchers' and physicians' pushback, race is still used in studies and clinics to categorize human differences in health conditions and treatment responses. This article explores how race has influenced breast cancer research. Considering race as a factor in cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment can lead to racial inequalities. Sociocultural factors, including food access and air pollution, greatly influence health outcomes.

Support groups are typically free, which makes them widely accessible

The groups are typically run by someone with the same illness or set of experiences and can provide clear, practical knowledge about navigating healthcare resources, bureaucracy, and more. Since they function on trust, however, there are no legal confidentiality prohibiting people from sharing what's discussed. What's more, group leaders may not be uniformly trained or certified.

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal, mutated cells that can spread throughout the body.

A 40-something science journalist was getting more winded during workouts, and experiencing night sweats, forgetfulness and tiredness—she thought it was perimenopause, but these common symptoms turned out to be signs of her blood cancer.

How is immunotherapy used to fight cancer?

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute provides a delightful Science Illustrated animation explaining PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy and how it fights cancer. Briefly, the treatment helps T-cells recognize cancerous cells that would ordinarily be "disguised" by proteins and attack. The fight is made more fair and effective by immunotherapy and similar cancer treatments.

Specific gut microbiome 'fingerprints' are associated with cancer recurrence, with up to 94% accuracy.

Explore more statistics about cancer

The American Cancer Society's Cancer Statistics Center estimates there will be more than 2 million new cancer cases and almost 620,000 cancer deaths in the US during the course of 2025. Breast, prostate, and lung cancers remain the most prevalent. This interactive tool provides detailed statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival rates, allowing users to explore data by state, cancer type, demographics, and risk factors.

At a 2026 cancer conference, news that a novel pancreatic cancer drug doubled survival times in clinical trials led to a standing ovation.

A new schizophrenia healthcare model is giving patients more of a role in shaping their own treatments, with good results.

Watch patient stories describing life with macular degeneration

This video series features patients discussing their experiences with the disorder, family members describing caregiving, and other insights about the disease.

Tumor genetic profiling can lead to targeted treatments

Genetic profiling of tumors—based on a sample from the tumor, a patient's blood, or both—can help clinicians determine if targeted therapies known to block the growth of certain types of tumors would be appropriate for specific patients.

Using deep learning to analyze tumors

The explosive growth of life sciences data is driving artificial intelligence methods to gain traction in biology and medicine — including cancer research.

Breast, prostate, and lung cancer are the most common forms of cancer.

Searching for the history of cancer in ancient human bones

Nestled under archaeology lies bioarchaeology, which involves the study of bones, human or animal. This subfield recently birthed another field of study: paleo-oncology. Paleo-oncology looks for cancer and related biomarkers in bioarchaeological remains. This TED article explains how this nascent multidisciplinary field challenges the idea that cancer is modern.

Turning a profit with terminal illness

After Amanda Riley was diagnosed with cancer, her social media followers rallied to raise funds to ensure their favorite religious influencer could afford one miracle after another. As more than $100,000 of donations poured in, Riley shared glimpses into her health struggles, posting evidence as fake as her diagnosis. Pulling from years of journalistic investigation, this eight-episode podcast series dives into Riley's reality.

Metastasis: When cancer cells begin to travel through the body

Metastatic cancer starts in one part of the body and moves to another over time. This is known as metastasis. Such cancers are much more harmful since they attack multiple parts of the body, adapting new metabolic changes to suit the various environments found throughout a body.

What is immunotherapy and how does it work?

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that harnesses the body's immune system to combat cancer. This video explainer from the American Cancer Society discusses various types of immunotherapies and their roles in targeting cancer cells. Still a new and quickly evoliving field, immunotherapy represents a significant advancement in cancer treatment and offers new options for patients.

How does cancer actually kill someone?

While the emotional and physical tolls of cancer are often clear, the innerworkings of how cancer kills can be confusing — and terrifying to discuss. Here, oncologists explain how cancer can progress.

Teaching immune cells to fight cancer

CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy, which involves strengthening the immune system to attack cancer cells. Patient T cells, which manage immune responses and are responsible for killing pathogen-infected cells, are collected and re-engineered to produce surface-level proteins called chimeric antigen receptors. These CARs, now able to bind to specific proteins on cancer cell surfaces, are multiplied into the millions and infused back into the patient.

Can AI revolutionize cancer detection?

Scientists have developed a tool to evaluate the risk of lung cancer, the most deadly form of the disease. Named "Sybil," this AI program was trained using CT scans with clear cancer signs, followed by scans where cancer wasn’t obvious. The tool is able to review CT scan data to predict a patient's of developing a lung cancer within six years. See how it works here.

The difference between standard cancer treatments and emerging immunotherapies

If you've ever wondered what the difference was between immunotherapy and chemotherapy, this short video takes you through the steps. Briefly, chemotherapy attacks cancer in tumor cells directly, while immunotherapy encourages your immune system to fight it. There's more to it than that, but this delightful two-and-a-half-minute video provides a good primer.

US cancer mortality rates have been falling for 25 years

The American Cancer Society's "Cancer Facts & Figures 2025" report provides comprehensive statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival rates in the United States. Cancer rates in the US continued a long-running downward trend, driven primarily by a steep drop in lung cancers (mostly from a decrease in habitual smoking) and better preventative monitoring. This site leads to incredibly in-depth reports and slides on the current state of the fight against cancer.

Patients are messaging their doctors online more than ever—recent research suggests portal messages have risen by 157% since 2020.

Social media can be a valuable public health tool, combating misinformation, advancing health research, boosting social mobilization, and raising awareness of health services and events.

mRNA vaccines alter immune response, not DNA, to combat diseases like cancer.

A new type of immunotherapy focuses on healthy cells hijacked by tumors

Purdue University scientists are at work on a new cancer treatment that attacks immune system cells that feed and protect cancer cells rather than attacking them. The immunotherapy process promises to become a universal treatment for solid tumors. Thus far, the treatment has been tested and shown to work on human tumor cells in the laboratory and animal models.

A physician with a rare and deadly disease saved his own life by identifying an existing medication that he repurposed for his condition, and now he's using AI to try to do the same for other patients.

How does cancer spread through the body?

Cancer usually begins with one tumor, but it can spread to other organs if not removed. This video breaks down how cancer moves to these new areas and why some organs are more likely to get infected than others.

The lack of diversity in clinical trials is undermining the future of precision medicine

Medicine works better when the treatments are tailored to fit each individual person’s biology and history. Homogeneous patient selection in clinical trials means treatments and care are being refined based on only a small range of variables, some of which may not apply to you. This 40-minute podcast episode discusses the historical and current reasons for the lack of clinical trial diversity and what this means for the future of personalized medicine.

Five advancements in arthritis research

It is estimated that nearly 350 million people worldwide are currently suffering from arthritis. This resource explores five of the most promising recent advancements in arthritis research as scientists work towards improved treatments and continue the search for a cure.

How Gleevec transformed leukemia treatment and cancer research

An outline of the discovery of imatinib (Gleevec), a ground-breaking drug that transformed the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and sparked the beginning of precision medicine.