Share

Prevention and Early Detection

ACS CAN advocates for public policies that can prevent nearly half of all cancer deaths by ensuring access to recommended cancer screenings, protecting the public from skin cancer risk, reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke and supporting people in increasing physical activity, eating a healthy diet, and managing their weight.

Prevention and Early Detection Resources:

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) urges Congress to increase funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) cancer programs to at least $482.9 million in Fiscal Year 2027.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) calls on Congress to fund the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Program for Cancer Registries (NPCR) at $63.4 million in FY 2027. Established by Congress in 1992, the National Program for Cancer Registries suppo

In a letter to Interview magazine Editor and Chief Mel Ottenberg, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), alongside the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Truth Initiative, and Vital Strategies, expressed strong dis

In a letter to Vanity Fair Global Editorial Director Mark Guiducci, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), alongside the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Truth Initiative, and Vital Strategies, expressed strong disappoint

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) calls on Congress to fund the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) at $265 million in FY 2027 and to pass the Screening for Communities to Receive Early

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) calls on Congress to fund the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) lifesaving Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) at $51 million in FY 2027.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) calls on Congress to support a sustained funding level of $310 million in Fiscal Year 2027 for fact based tobacco prevention and cessation programs and ensure the funding is used as Congress intended.

Pharmacists are playing an increasingly important public health role, in part due to the widespread presence of pharmacies in communities, with nearly 89% of people in the U.S.

In March 2026, FDA released the “Flavored Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) Premarket Applications – Considerations Related to Youth Risk; Draft Guidance for Industry." Draft Guidance provides FDA's current thinking about the topic of the guidance. The undersigned public health, medical, civil righs and community organizations conclude that the Draft Guidance fails to recognize the well-established history of signficant variations in youth flavor preferences over time, often caused by regulatory decisions, and this fundamental flaw threatens to open the regulatory door to a wide array of FDA-authorized products that would appeal and be accessible to youth, without signficant countervailing health benefits to adults who smoke.

Tobacco Control Resources:

As organizations committed to protecting the health of our children, we write to express our  disappointment at the news of expanded partnerships between Formula 1 teams and tobacco companies. Formula 1 ended cigarette sponsorships in 2006, which was the right thing to do. Now we ask Formula 1 to do the same with other tobacco products, including nicotine pouches. 

All tobacco products, including heated tobacco products, are unsafe. Heated tobacco products (HTPs) should be fully included in tobacco control laws to reduce tobacco use and protect the public from exposure to secondhand smoke.

Smoke-free laws protect the public and workers from the health hazards of secondhand smoke, and those
protections must extend to cannabis smoke. Smoking cannabis (often referred to as marijuana) in public places

ACS CAN, along with the American Academy of Pediatrics,  American Heart Association,  American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and the Truth Initiative urged the U.S.

Since its inception, the tobacco industry has relied on deception to peddle its deadly products.9 Now, as cigarette use in the U.S. continues to decline and the industry faces mounting regulatory pressure, it is expanding its tactics.

All cigars, including large cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars pose a serious threat to Americans’ health, with 10.2
million U.S. adults reporting current cigar use in 2022. Yet, these products remain less regulated than other tobacco

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) calls on Congress to support a sustained level of funding of $310 million for tobacco control and reject the elimination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH).

Comprehensive tobacco retailer licensing laws can reduce the harmful impact of the tobacco retail environment by regulating where and how tobacco retailers can operate and sell tobacco products as well as providing the licensing entity the authority to ensure tobacco retailers are complying with all applicable tobacco control laws.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against major tobacco manufacturers Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard, and Altria to hold the industry accountable for more than 50 years of conspiring to defraud the public in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Big Tobacco, an industry which has for decades knowingly addicted and endangered the lives of millions of Americans for their own profit, must now post the truth about their deadly products, including at the point-of-sale (POS) for approximately 220,000 tobacco retailers.

Screening Resources:

ACS CAN supports the Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis Act to increase access to no cost breast cancer screening, including all diagnostic and supplemental tests.

Our latest survey finds that 31% of screening-age adults have been more than one year behind on recommended routine cancer screenings. Over half say out-of-pocket costs are a barrier to getting screened, while 47% report that getting insurance approvals for covered screenings is a barrier.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the U.S. Although there has been substantial progress in reducing breast cancer mortality in the US over the past several decades, there are persistent disparities, especially among Black women. Additionally, breast cancer incidence is increasing, with the steepest trends among young women under 50. In 2025, an estimated 316,950 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer with an additional 59,080 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in women, and 42,680 will die from the disease. 

ACS CAN supports the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2025 to accelerate progress in reducing mortality from lung cancer. 

In 2024, an estimated 13,820 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer, and 4,360 will die from the disease. Cervical cancer can affect any person with a cervix and most often is caused by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Persistent HPV infection causes almost all cervical cancers but fortunately there is a safe and effective vaccine against HPV.

Our latest survey finds that cancer patients and survivors would be less likely to stay current with preventive care, including recommended cancer screenings, if the provision requiring these services be covered at no cost were repealed. This survey also explores the challenges of limited provider networks and the need for patient navigation.

  •  

Healthy Eating and Active Living Resources:

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) supports policies and funding that increase access to “Food is Medicine” (or food as medicine) initiatives and interventions intended to prevent, treat, or manage chronic diseases and often address food and nutrition insecurity.