Cancer Prevention

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More than half of all cancer deaths can be prevented by fully leveraging the knowledge, tools and medical breakthroughs we have today.

Providing everyone with the opportunity to have a healthy lifestyle and true access to cancer screenings - like mammograms and colonoscopies - could save thousands of lives every year.

We are working to pass laws at every level of government that are proven to help prevent and detect cancer.

Half of all cancer deaths can be prevented.

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Woman with headscarf with her mother

Urge Congress to vote YES to save more lives from breast and cervical cancer

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote soon to reauthorize a program that provides free and low cost breast and cervical cancer screenings to those who need them most. 

Latest Updates

June 27, 2024
National

Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor Health and Human Services considered and approved its draft FY25 appropriations bill that includes increases for federal cancer research funding at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

June 26, 2024
National

Tomorrow, the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means is expected to mark up the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Coverage Act.

June 21, 2024
National

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit partially reversed a district court decision that had invalidated key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the case of Braidwood v. Becerra , finding cost-free preventive services could remain in place...

June 6, 2024
New York

This afternoon, the New York State Senate passed legislation that would eliminate cost-sharing for lung cancer screenings and follow-up tests. Senate Bill 8553-A received bipartisan support for the proposal impacting all payers in New York, including Medicaid.

Cancer Prevention Resources

Early detection of breast and cervical cancer through screening can improve survival and reduce mortality by finding cancer at an early stage when treatment is more effective and less expensive. To save lives and reduce health care spending, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) is highly effective at detecting and treating breast and cervical cancer in people who may otherwise not be screened.

Early detection of cancer through screening can improve survival and reduce mortality by detecting cancer at an early stage when treatment is more effective. The most recent data show breast and lung cancer screening rates were lowest among American Indian and Alaska Native people compared to other race and ethnicities, and below all race and ethnicities combined for cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancer screening.

Tobacco use causes about one-third of cancer deaths in the nation overall, but the burden varies by state.