Leading Cancer Organizations Express Profound Concern Over Proposed Elimination of CDC’s Cancer Prevention Division
On behalf of the millions of Americans living with cancer and at risk for being diagnosed, as well as health care providers, researchers, advocates, and their communities, we express our profound disappointment and grave concern regarding the proposed elimination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC) in the President’s FY2026 discretionary funding request.
Cancer remains one of our nation’s most significant public health challenges, with nearly two million Americans diagnosed annually and over 600,000 lives lost each year. The United States already faces one of the highest age-standardized cancer incidence rates globally. The proposed elimination of the DCPC as part of the National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion would severely undermine our national capacity to address this critical chronic disease burden at a time when we should be strengthening, not dismantling, our cancer prevention infrastructure.
The DCPC’s work is fundamental to:
-Understanding and reducing cancer rates;
-Implementing evidence-based prevention strategies;
-Supporting early detection programs that save lives;
-Providing free and low-cost cancer screenings;
-Educating patients and healthcare providers about cancer risks; and
-Improving cancer outcomes for all Americans.
This proposed cut directly contradicts the Administration’s stated health priorities and would represent a devastating setback in our collective fight against cancer. The elimination of this division would leave critical gaps in our public health infrastructure that cannot be readily filled by other entities. State health departments and other organizations play a crucial role in the collection of data and in supplementing the work of the DCPC, but the federal government creates the infrastructure that encourages efficiency, data exchange and effective collaboration; the CDC’s cancer efforts showcase our federated model of government at its best.
We strongly urge Secretary Kennedy, Director Vought and Congress to reject this proposal and instead strengthen our national commitment to cancer prevention and control. The health of millions of Americans depends on maintaining and enhancing these vital programs.
Sincerely,
Fight Colorectal Cancer
Melanoma Research Foundation
Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance
Prevent Cancer Foundation
Susan G. Komen
ZERO Prostate Cancer
Media Contacts:
Stephanie S. Johnson
ZERO Prostate Cancer
stephjohnson@zerocancer.org | media@zerocancer.org
(202) 998-2507
Zehra Mehdi-Barlas
Susan G. Komen
Elizabeth Jordan
Fight Colorectal Cancer
(636) 544-7113
Amanita Duga-Carroll
Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance
(917) 597-7880
James Merrick
Melanoma Research Foundation
(202) 579-3450
Kyra Meister
Prevent Cancer Foundation
(703) 836-1746