Alcohol-related cancer deaths in US have more than doubled over three decades

Study finds just one drink per day could raise risk of disease with impacts extending far beyond liver cancer…

 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/04/alcohol-related-cancer-deaths

 

ICE holds man with stage 4 cancer in detention despite permanent US residency

ICE spokesperson says Loreto Javar failed to disclose criminal conviction in Philippines when he applied for visa…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/01/ice-stage-4-cancer-filipino-national

 

MAHA has arrived in Iowa — and Big Ag is reeling - POLITICO

Lahn is taking aim at fertilizers, pesticides and other farm chemicals seeping into drinking water supplies — and the agrochemical giants that make them. He believes Big Ag and Big Chemical are to blame for the state’s high cancer rates, a top issue for voters here... 

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/31/maha-iowa-big-ag-01056179 

 

Trump Is Unraveling a Hard-Won Rule to Reduce Toxic Pollution From Chemical Plants – Mother Jones

“Everything that the Biden administration did to help protect us was pretty much just thrown in the garbage,” Tish Taylor said in July, and replaced by “a death sentence.” St. John the Baptist Parish, where her family lives, has the country’s highest risk of cancer from air pollution—nearly 50 times the national average. A disproportionate percentage of those exposed to the highest levels of pollution in the region are Black…

 https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/trump-zeldin-epa-rollback-rules-toxic-chemical-plant-pollution-emissions-cancer-alley/

A drug just approved for pancreatic cancer opens a new chapter in treatment : NPR

The FDA just approved a breakthrough drug for metastatic pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously hard to treat. In clinical trials, the new pill roughly doubled how long patients survived.

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/27/nx-s1-5945724/a-drug-just-approved-for-pancreatic-cancer-opens-a-new-chapter-in-treatment 

 

Why cancer, not cost of living, may be the biggest issue in Iowa’s midterm elections

Iowa’s cancer rates followed national trends until 2012, when they began climbing upwards for reasons that Green said remain unclear. Cancer includes a broad group of diseases, and many aspects of life, from stress to food to environment, can modify someone’s risk. What’s plain is the importance to voters – one survey has cancer ranked as the top issue facing the state, eclipsing even the cost of living...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/16/iowa-midterm-elections-republicans-democrats

 

A cancer diagnosis may not be enough: Trump and Democratic states clash in court over who’s too sick to work - POLITICO

The administration declared in an interim final rule released last month that a diagnosis, even for a disease as grave as cancer, isn’t enough to claim an exemption from the 80-hour requirement, unless beneficiaries submit additional proof that they physically can’t work. Democratic attorneys general from 25 states and Washington, D.C. plan to argue the rule is both too strict, in not offering blanket exemptions to people with certain diseases, and too vague, in failing to guide states on how to determine who is too sick to work — and will ask the judge to block the stricter medical frailty policy...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/28/trump-dems-court-battle-over-medicaid-work-requirements-01013114

 

Helping folks who are battling cancer shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YVhl0iRKnTM

 

The EPA Relied on an Influential Glyphosate Study Even After Learning Monsanto Was a “Ghost Writer” – Mother Jones

The US Environmental Protection Agency has known for nearly a decade that an influential 2013 scientific paper that concluded glyphosate is safe was actually ghostwritten by developer Monsanto. But the agency never informed the public and continued to rely on it, according to an EPA memo obtained by Mother Jones and revealed here for the first time...

 https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/06/epa-roundup-glyphosate-monsanto-ghostwritten-herbicide-cancer-bayer/

Revlimid: The $0.25 Cancer Pill That Sold for Nearly $1,000 — ProPublica

Armstrong: And I just happened to find it. There was a lawsuit that a, um, generic drug company filed against Celgene, and buried in thousands of pages was an excerpt of a deposition of Celgene’s head of manufacturing. And a lawyer asked him flat out, “What does it cost to make this drug?” And he said 25 cents. And I remember the moment I saw that, I, I knew that it was a big markup involved, but when he said that the cost was 25 cents a pill, and it had always been 25 cents a pill, and it’s still 25 cents a pill, I was just really floored by that... 

One of the former sales officials said that internally they thought they could charge whatever they wanted, that cancer patients will pay whatever price the company put on this pill. So there were, from the time Revlimid was approved by the FDA in 2005 to current day, 26 price hikes.  So it was a bluff that was called. And for Celgene, it was an incredibly lucrative bet that they made...

 https://www.propublica.org/podcast/revlimid-cancer-drugs-fda-healthcare 

Like millions of Americans, my family has been impacted by the terrible scourge of cancer

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x0Q4ZQ0yvQM

A major breakthrough in cancer treatment! #cancer #medication #doctor

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JK6yFtSJxgs

Strict Medicaid work rules could harm people with serious illnesses, advocates say : NPR

The nearly 400-page interim final rule released Monday makes that process even harder. For months, federal officials have been meeting with states informally and giving them guidance, and states understood that people with conditions where continuous health insurance coverage was really important would be exempt. 

"What the rule says, as published, is that that's actually not enough," McIntyre explains. "The condition or the disease needs to be actively interfering with your ability to work. So people with early stage cancer who are in radiation treatment but still have the capacity to work, or people who have HIV but can still technically work, are not exempted from the work requirement." 

 McIntyre and others foresee situations where a person newly diagnosed with cancer, who is working, loses Medicaid because they don't fill out the paperwork correctly. That could lead to patients losing coverage when they need it most…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5845097/medicaid-work-requirements-cuts-hiv-cancer

FDA Commissioner explain why they canceled $500 million in mRNA research... Inbox

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8pZ8JLIpWVM

The Most Important Health Stories You Missed This Week (Dr. Zachary Rubin, Bench to Bedside podcast)

It’s been a chaotic week in health and science, and a lot of important stories are getting buried.

In Episode 9 of From Bench to Bedside, Dr. Zachary Rubin and Dr. Melanie Matheu break down the health headlines that actually matter: alternative funding programs for medications, ACIP charter changes, the worsening measles outbreak, a polio travel advisory, cuts to rabies and poxvirus testing, and a couple of good-news stories to end on hope.

Let us know what story stood out most, and share this episode with someone who wants clear, grounded takes on science, medicine, and public health.

00:00 Intro + “it’s been a week”
02:00 Alternative Funding Programs (AFPs): cheaper meds, hidden risks
05:30 Why doctors may not even know patients are using AFPs
08:30 RFK Jr. & ACIP charter changes explained
13:00 Why expertise (actually) matters in vaccine policy
16:30 Measles outbreak update (U.S. data + trends)
20:30 Why teens & adults are driving cases now
23:00 Hospitalizations + who’s at highest risk
24:30 Polio travel advisory (what to know before summer trips)
26:30 Rabies & poxvirus testing cuts: why this matters
28:00 Good news: cancer death rates declining
29:00 Good news: wedding before heart transplant
29:45 Outro

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/dROZ3hEmunM?si=NGXr1sa6QpfJylzY

Tackling air pollution should be part of government work to cut cancer rates, scientists say

There is increasing evidence that air pollution is associated with bladder, kidney and brain cancers and that air pollution can affect survival rates. 

With home woodburning increasing, the code calls on governments to discourage and phase out solid fuels for heating, cooking and recreation. It also calls for incentives for the installation of home energy systems that do not pollute, such as heat pumps, solar power and geothermal energy...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/06/tackle-air-pollution-cut-cancer-rates-scientists

 

Ivermectin takes off among cancer patients : NPR

Ivermectin is now making a comeback, after its use receded in the waning years of the pandemic. Now, especially in conservative political circles, its reputation keeps growing as a kind of cure-all for various ailments, and even for cancer — despite a lack of evidence it works. 

So far, five state legislatures — in Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana and Texas — have voted to make the drug available over-the-counter, causing concern among doctors who say people might overuse or misuse it, or worse — substitute ivermectin for proven treatments...

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/02/nx-s1-5729102/ivermectin-politics-treatment-cancer-evidence 

 

Trump selects doctor who promoted unproven covid treatment to helm U.S. cancer initiative - The Washington Post

Harvey Risch, an epidemiologist respected for his cancer research, promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine during the pandemic, despite a lack of evidence it worked against covid...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/17/trump-risch-cancer-covid

Synthetic chemicals in food system creating health burden of $2.2tn a year, report finds

Scientists issue urgent warning about chemicals, found to cause cancer and infertility as well as harming environment…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/10/synthetic-chemicals-food-system-health-burden-report

 

How to lower your risk of getting cancer young, according to experts - The Washington Post

Not only are more young people being diagnosed with breast and colorectal cancer, but the diseases are leading to more deaths. Here's what you can actually do about it...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/10/25/young-cancer-risk-breast-colorectal/