Nearly 40% of new cancer cases worldwide are linked to things we can change, such as smoking. Plus, the NIH is rolling back red tape on some types of human research and the unexpected success of ice skates.
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Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of preventable cancer cases.Credit: Jorge Sanz/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty
Nearly 40% of new cancer cases worldwide are potentially preventable, according to a new analysis. The study found that in 2022, smoking tobacco was the leading contributor to cancer cases, followed by infections and drinking alcohol. Reducing such risk factors is “one of the most powerful ways that we can potentially reduce the future cancer burden”, says cancer epidemiologist and study co-author Hanna Fink.
Nature | 4 min read
Reference: Nature Medicine paper
Cuts to global development funding could lead to 9.4 million additional deaths in the next four years, with about 2.5 million of those deaths in children under 5, compared to if funding had been maintained at 2023 levels. The modelling study comes roughly one year after the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was wiped out by the administration of US President Donald Trump, compounded by cuts made by other top funders such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. “We should take the precise numbers with caution, but I think the overall conclusion is likely correct,” says global-development researcher Lee Crawfurd. “People will die in large numbers.”
CNN | 9 min read
Reference: The Lancet Global Health paper
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) will free some research from the heavy bureaucratic requirements that are designed for clinical trials but are sometimes ill-suited to other fields, such as basic psychology and behavioural studies. Many researchers say they are relieved by the change. But others question how the laudable goals of the requirements — to increase the transparency of research on human participants and prevent negative results from ending up unpublished — can still be achieved.
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