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President Joe Biden has appointed Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD; Mitchel Berger, MD; and Carol L. Brown, MD, FACOG, FACS, to the President’s Cancer Panel, the White House announced in a press release. The three physicians, chosen for their contributions to oncology research and public health, will advise the president on challenges and opportunities in reducing the burden of cancer. (Byrne, 7/14)

Cancer researchers have discovered how mutated cells can sense the Goldilocks sweet spots in a human body. Led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, an international group of researchers has shed new light on how cancer thrives. Previous studies have shown how cancer cells can sense the stiffness of the environment they are in, from hard bone and tough muscle to soft, fatty tissue. They found that cancer cells have a "sweet spot" of stiffness, neither too hard nor too soft, where they can move faster. (Bullen, 7/14)

French health authorities say they have confirmed a link between nitrates added to processed meat and colon cancer, dealing a blow to the country’s prized ham and cured sausage industry. ... France is one of the world’s biggest producers of cold cuts, known as charcuterie, which are often consumed as snacks or with early evening drinks. The government immediately announced it would launch an action plan to reduce the use of the additives later this year. (7/12)

Data collected by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy suggest that Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, a bacterial species well known for causing serious diarrheal infections, may also drive colorectal cancer. (Johns Hopkins, 7/14)

After several years of clinical trials - researchers are launching a new way to screen for more than 50 types of cancer with a simple blood test. And since Mercy hospitals were involved in the clinical trials, the test is already available at Mercy Ardmore and Mercy Ada. “It’s a good test,” Mohart said. “It’s not a replacement for current screening, but its a supplement for screening for so many cancers that we don’t screen for today. so as you know we only screen about 4-5 cancers in the US. but this blood test, a simple blood test screens for fifty cancers all at once. It’s called the Multi-Cancer early Detection test, and it looks for signs of fifty types of cancer. (Cluiss, 7/14)

The health of 15-year-old Jinger Vincent depends on whether her family has enough money to buy gas in order to get her to her medical appointments. Vincent, a life-long athlete, was diagnosed with bone cancer more than a year ago. ... She has been through chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, including replacing part of her femur bone, and recent lung surgery. She now has medical and physical therapy appointments nearly every other day, often traveling up to an hour away from her home in rural Indiana. With gas prices more than doubling in the past year, parents Keith and Analiza Vincent now spend more than $200 a week on gas, money they don't always have. (Diaz, 7/14)

Elephants have always presented a paradox to biologists. They are much larger than humans and live for a similar length of time, yet they only rarely develop cancer. That is odd. Cancer, after all, is something of a numbers game: the more cells, the more replications. The more replications, the greater the likelihood of random dna damage and a cell going rogue, failing to be detected and ultimately starting the runaway process towards a tumour. (7/13)