In The Headlines: Are cancer registries on the chopping block, and what does it mean if they are?

The National Cancer Registries Program, or NPCR, is a relatively small but highly impactful 33-year-old CDC program that gauges disparities in cancer and tracks progress against the disease. So, why was it left out of the Trump administration’s preliminary budget?

In this episode of In the Headlines, Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter, and Katie Goldberg, director of operations, talk about Paul’s recent story, “White House preliminary budget document provides no funds for highly impactful CDC cancer registries program.”

NPCR provides money to state registries, supports training of registrars, sets registry standards, and pays for development of registry software.

“I don't know if anyone is going to call their congressman over cancer registries,” Paul said. “Can you imagine anything more yawn inducing than, you know, data collection?”

Boring though simple data collection may seem to some (not Katie), the program is vital in the effort to “identify and mitigate emerging challenges across the full American population,” Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and professor emerita at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, said to The Cancer Letter.

“Preserving and strengthening our cancer surveillance infrastructure is essential to ensuring that lifesaving progress reaches every community, and to continue success in decreasing cancer mortality rates. Because of programs like NPCR, we have achieved a striking 34% reduction in US cancer death rates since 1991,” Knudsen said.

Without the CDC cancer registries, the field will be left without standardized data.

“If nobody understands it, then you can say anything,” Paul said.

Other stories mentioned in this podcast include:

• HHS said it would terminate Women’s Health Initiative, then reconsidered

• DOJ letters to peer-reviewed journals allege partisan bias in medical literature

• Steven Libutti tells us about building a $900 million cancer hospital for Rutgers RWJBarnabas Health

• In her own words: Rathmell reflects on her priorities and values—and encourages everyone to do the same

• Makary vows to speed up drug approvals and end FDA’s “cozy” relationship with industry

• Guest editorial by Richard Goldberg: Regulation must keep up with scientific advances 

A transcript of this podcast is available: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/20250430-cancer-registries/