“The current body of research inadequately addresses the intersection of aging, health disparities, and cancer outcomes among older adults, highlighting the imperative for heightened attention, enhanced infrastructure, and collaborative efforts to fill this critical gap,” a team of expert investigators from across the United States reported in a scoping review published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Basing lung cancer screening eligibility decisions on pack-year history misses about 27% of Black patients and 8% of White patients who should otherwise qualify for screening, researchers reported in study findings published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. They found that total smoking duration history was a more accurate indicator of individuals who should be offered lung cancer screening.

Ending cancer as we know it doesn’t stop at U.S. borders. Truly transforming the burden of cancer around the world requires shared vision and action, participants said during the July 2024 White House Africa Cancer Forum.

When applied to machine learning models and other artificial intelligence (AI), the Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm more equitably and uniformly distributes a dataset’s racial and ethnic biomedical information, researchers reported in study findings published in the Journal of Healthcare Informatics Research. They demonstrated that the algorithm created parity in a group of patients spanning a broad range of population backgrounds.

Of the more than 20 million new cancer cases diagnosed globally in 2022, nearly half occurred in Asia—where an even higher majority of the 9.7 million deaths were also reported, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer and American Cancer Society’s April 2024 estimates. And although “the cancer mortality burden in the African and Asian regions is disproportionately greater than the corresponding incidence burden,” the authors wrote, “Europe [also] has a disproportionately higher cancer incidence and mortality burden, given that the continent has one-fifth of the global cancer cases and cancer deaths yet less than 10% of the global population.”

The journey from cancer diagnosis to treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a complex, costly, and multifaceted process influenced by various factors that shape the course of patient care. HSCT is particularly susceptible to racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in access and outcomes, given its specialized nature and limited availability in just about 200 U.S. cancer centers.

The risk of dying from cancer has steadily declined in the United States over the past few decades, but Black individuals assigned female at birth still have some of the lowest survival rates. Although Black females are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer than White females, they are they more likely to die from it within five years, according to the National Cancer Institute. The disparity is particularly stark for breast cancer, which kills Black females at a 40% higher rate than White females, even though their rate of diagnosis is 4% lower.

Firefighters may have an increased risk of prostate cancer because of on-the-job chemical exposures, according to new data from the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study. Firefighters are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a rate 1.21 times higher than the general population, possibly because of chemical exposures, including smoke and firefighting foam, during firefighting.

The leading cause of death for most of the U.S. population is heart disease, but since 2000, the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community has been the only racial and ethnic group whose leading cause of death is cancer. One of the fastest-growing minorities in the United States—currently comprising about 6% of the population—the AANHPI community traces its roots to more than 20 countries across Asia and the Pacific Islands. It is a vastly heterogenous group consisting of people with various languages and cultural backgrounds.

The Cancer Equity Leaders is a diverse team of premier cancer research leaders working under the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. NCI announced the group and its members in an April 2024 blog post.

About 7% of the U.S. population identifies as LGBTQ+, but understanding cancer in this population is difficult because surveillance data are limited to national surveys on risk factors and screening, the American Cancer Society (ACS) observed in a special section of its Cancer Facts and Figures 2024 report on cancer in the LGBTQ+ community.

Cancer incidence is increasing throughout the United States, with an unprecedented 2 million new cancer cases predicted in 2024, the American Cancer Society (ACS) reported in Cancer Facts and Figures 2024.

A significant portion of young patients with breast cancer have concerns about fertility, but only 20% of them pursue fertility preservation. Published in Cancer Medicine, new study findings highlight the importance of providing patient education about fertility preservation and the effects of cancer treatment on fertility as well as addressing barriers to fertility care.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors are at greater risk for chronic health conditions than LGB individuals without a cancer history and heterosexual AYA cancer survivors, researchers reported in a recent study. Published in Cancer, the study findings underscore the disparities in care that LGB AYA cancer survivors face and the need to address barriers and personalize survivorship care.

More than 60% of uninsured or underinsured individuals who seek cancer screening have at least one barrier to care, a team of researchers and clinicians reported in study results presented at the Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators 14th Annual Navigation and Survivorship Conference. They also demonstrated that a free, community-based cancer screening and navigation program can identify those barriers and facilitate referrals to community partner organizations or other resources.

An estimated 35 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2050, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in February 2024, a 77% increase from the estimated 20 million cases in 2022. Yet according to survey responses across 115 countries, most parts of the world do not have sufficient funding for cancer and palliative care services, WHO said. Additionally, the data showed “striking inequities in the cancer burden” based on the Human Development Index and “significant global inequities in cancer services” between high- and low-income countries.

Behind closed doors, House Republicans have shifted from optimistically cautious to expecting a government shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will have to choose in coming weeks between a fight with Democrats that threatens a shutdown, or a deal with Democrats that threatens his job. The government will start a partial shutdown unless a budget or spending stopgap is passed by March 1.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to work with the U.S. Congress to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries maintain access to telehealth. Led by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), the group sent HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra a letter on January 29, 2024, making the case for permanent telehealth legislation before the current waivers expire at the end of 2024.

Most patients who die from cancer do not use hospice at the time of their death, ONS member and oncology nurse researcher Dena D. Shore, PhD, RN, OCN^®, CNE, reported in an article published in the December 2023 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (CJON). According to her literature review, cancer-related, ethnic and racial, and geographic disparities are frequently involved in delayed or nonuse of hospice care.

More than 2 out of 5 people in the United States live in a concentrated poverty area with limited access to health-promoting resources and services, National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) Director Shannon N. Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN, said in a 2023 blog post with National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Director Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, MD. “Research shows people living in concentrated poverty areas have poorer health outcomes across a wide range of diseases and conditions and are also more likely to die than those living in other areas.”

Access to care and health equity are critical factors that affect diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients with multiple myeloma, particularly among Blacks and African Americans. Although multiple myeloma is relatively rare, accounting for about 3% of all cancers, it is the second most common blood cancer in Black and African American individuals, with a statistical tie in prevalence with lymphoma and leukemia. About 24% of those cases are in Blacks and African Americans. 

Cancer death rates among children and teens dropped in the past two decades, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but that decline has stalled over the past 10 years among Black and Hispanic children. In the first decade, all races saw a similar decline in the cancer death rate. But between 2011 and 2021, the death rate dropped only slightly for Hispanic youth and increased for Black youth. In 2021, the death rate for White youth was 19%–20% lower than for Black and Hispanic youth, the CDC found.

White patients with commercial insurance receiving care in a community setting are most likely to receive systemic anticancer therapy at the end of life, researchers reported in study findings published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. 

The Cancer Moonshot plan identifies five priority areas, all of which artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to enhance. Two areas in particular lend themselves to AI: the call to "deliver the latest cancer innovations to patients and communities" and the aim of enhancing "the oncology model to place cancer patients at the center of decision-making."

Black or Hispanic individuals, those who’ve received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and older individuals are more likely to experience lymphedema after breast cancer treatment with axillary lymph node dissection and radiation therapy, researchers reported in JAMA Oncology. 

A patient’s race and the neighborhood in which they live can meaningfully lower time to progression and overall survival for triple-negative metastatic breast cancer, oncology nurse researchers reported in the Oncology Nursing Forum. 

Among all racial and ethnic groups, indigenous people (Native American and Alaska Natives) had the largest decline in life expectancy from 2020–2021. They also have the lowest overall life expectancy (65.2 years) than any of their Asian, Black, Hispanic, or White counterparts—in some cases, up to 20 years shorter. Indigenous people have disproportionately high rates of suicide, chronic liver disease, cardiac disorders, diabetes, and infant and maternal mortality.

Cancer survivors from historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups who experience racism are more likely to report physical, mental, sleep, and activity issues during survivorship, researchers reported in study results published in Cancer. 

Joining two powerful entities may be what it takes to overcome cancer and global health threats and improve health architecture around the world. In May 2023, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and the European Union Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides announced that the countries had formed the EU–U.S. Health Task Force, a new joint effort to address global health.

Cancer affects millions of people worldwide, and certain populations face a disproportionate burden of incidence, mortality, access to care, and representation in clinical trials. Oncology nurses can be a voice for their patients and an advocate for vulnerable individuals.

Racial and ethnic health disparities cost the U.S. economy $451 billion in 2018, a 41% increase from the 2014 estimate of $320 billion, according to results from a study funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers also reported that the total burden of education-related health disparities for people with less than a college degree reached $978 billion in 2018.

Many patients with cancer confront complex health disparities, but those with disabilities must muddle through more barriers than those without. As nurses, we have a responsibility to help our patients obtain the best possible care and support them during treatments such as a bone marrow transplantation. 

More than one billion individuals worldwide have some type of disability, and the population often faces higher rates of cancer, social determinants of health disadvantages, and greater health disparities. They are also more likely to have risk factors associated with a cancer diagnosis and require close care after a diagnosis that accommodates for their disability.

To address and achieve equity in health care, in fall 2022 the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) began offering new funding opportunities for research studies aligned with the scientific framework outlined in the institute’s 2022–2026 strategic plan. The grants are available cyclically with three application periods per year.

Equalizing the quality of patient-provider communication for Black versus White patients is one way to reduce the systemic racial disparities prevalent in cancer care, researchers reported in study findings published in the November 2022 issue of the Oncology Nursing Forum. They identified critical opportunities for oncology nurses to improve interpersonal communication with Black patients. Nurses are key drivers to affecting change and cancer outcomes for all patients, they reported.

Regardless of residence, nearly 25% of patients with cancer overall miss at least 10% of the doses in their radiation treatment plans—but the implications on outcomes are far greater for patients living in rural areas than their urban counterparts, according to new research findings published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.

Patients with cancer experiencing financial hardship during routine care are nearly 1.5 times more likely to die than those who aren’t, researchers reported in study findings published in JCO Oncology Practice.

Underserved, rural, and economically disadvantaged patients with cancer who are under the care of an oncology nurse navigator are better prepared to begin treatment and require fewer services than non-navigated peers, according to study findings published in the Oncology Nursing Forum (ONF). Authors Williams et al. said that their results indicate greater patient satisfaction.

As cancer care evolves, so do new opportunities for nursing roles. Oncology nurses in any role provide essential cancer care, including addressing disparities and social determinants of health and reducing financial toxicity. However, what sets nontraditional nursing roles apart are the populations they care for, how they provide that care, and how they’re overcoming systemic disparities to ensure that all patients with cancer have equal access to high-quality oncology care.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, awarded more than $5 million in September 2022 to 11 HRSA-funded community health centers to help underserved populations access cancer screenings and early detection services in partnership with National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.

Making history as the single largest Navigator organization funding award provided to date, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, invested $98.9 million in grant funding to 59 Navigator organizations in August 2022 to help consumers navigate enrollment and make health coverage more accessible.

Cancer and its treatments can affect a patient’s body in many ways, including sexual function. However, the historical evidence base is focused on cisgender men and their sexual health post-cancer treatment, with sexual health of women and LGBTQIA+ patients largely ignored. I, and many others, are working to change these disparities in research and practice.

Racial and ethnic groups are disproportionately affected by the increase in uterine cancer mortality in the United States, researchers explained in study findings published in JAMA Oncology, with Hispanic patients experiencing the highest burden.

By prohibiting discrimination on the basis of “race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ July 2022 proposed rule strengthens Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, improving civil rights protections for patients in certain federally funded health programs.

Not understanding terms like deductible, copay, premium, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximum prevents many Americans from selecting a health insurance plan that meets their financial needs. Fewer than 40% of patients enrolled in high-deductible healthcare plans engage in effective financial behaviors, such as comparing prices or discussing costs with clinicians. High costs are a barrier for many patients and survivors to access high-quality cancer and survivorship care.

To decrease cost and increase access to care, in July 2022 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a conversion factor of $33.08 for the 2023 Physician Fee Schedule.

In findings that could have global implications to change the face of female cancers, researchers reported that a single dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is highly effective in protecting young women against cervical infection with cancer-causing HPV types. The study results, which were published in NEJM Evidence, build on the body of evidence supporting single-dose HPV vaccines.

Financial considerations are notable barriers for patients with cancer receiving follow-up cancer care, according to study findings from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Research Program.

Death rates fell about 2% per year from 1999–2019 for Black patients with cancer, researchers reported in study findings published in JAMA Oncology; however, the population’s cancer mortality remains higher than other racial and ethnic groups for most cancer sites.

Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke increases a person’s risk for developing lung and brain cancer by 5% and 10%, respectively, according to study findings published in Lancet Planetary Health.