President Donald Trump's nominees to run the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are part of a group of scientists who just launched a new research journal focused on spurring scientific discourse and combating "gatekeeping" in the medical research community. 

The journal, titled the Journal of the Academy of Public Health (JAPH), includes an editorial board consisting of several scientists who complained of facing censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

JAPH's co-founders include Martin Kulldorff, a former Harvard Medical School professor who is a founding fellow at Hillsdale College's Academy for Science and Freedom, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford University who is also Trump's nominee to be the next NIH director. Kulldorff and Bhattacharya became known during the pandemic for authoring The Great Barrington Declaration, which sought to challenge the broader medical community's prevailing notions about COVID-19 mitigation strategies, arguing that – in the long run – the lockdowns that people were facing would do more harm than good.

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Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon and public policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University, who is Trump's nominee to be the next director of the FDA, is on the journal's editorial board as well.  

JAPH is adopting a novel approach by publishing peer reviews of prominent studies from other journals that do not make their peer reviews publicly available. The effort is aimed at spurring scientific discourse, Kulldorff said in a paper outlining the purposes of the journal's creation.

The journal will also seek to promote "open access" by making all of its work available to everyone in the public without a paywall, he said, and the journal's editorial leadership will allow all scientists within its network to "freely publish all their research results in a timely and efficient manner," to prevent any potential "gatekeeping."

"Scientific journals have had enormous positive impact on the development of science, but in some ways, they are now hampering rather than enhancing open scientific discourse," Kulldorff said. "After reviewing the history and current problems with journals, a new academic publishing model is proposed – it embraces open access and open rigorous peer review, it rewards reviewers for their important work with honoraria and public acknowledgment and it allows scientists to publish their research in a timely and efficient manner without wasting valuable scientist time and resources."

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Kulldorff, Bhattacharya, Makary and others on the new journal's leadership team have complained that their views about the COVID-19 pandemic were censored. These were views that were often contrary to the prevailing ideas put forth by the broader medical community at the time, which related to topics such as vaccine efficacy, natural immunity, lockdowns and more.

"Big tech censored the [sic] all kinds of science on natural immunity," Makary said in testimony to Congress following the pandemic. During his testimony, Makary also shared how one of his own studies at Johns Hopkins during the pandemic that promoted the effectiveness of natural immunity, which one scientific journal listed as its third most discussed study in 2022, "was censored."

"Because of my views on COVID-19 restrictions, I have been specifically targeted for censorship by federal government officials," Bhattacharya added in his own testimony to Congress the same year.

Kulldorff, who has also complained about censorship of his views on COVID-19, argued he was asked to leave his medical professorship at Harvard that he held since 2003, for "clinging to the truth" in his opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

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"The JAPH will ensure quality through open peer-review, but will not gatekeep new and important ideas for the sake of established orthodoxies," Andrew Noymer, JAPH's incoming editor-in-chief told Fox News Digital. 

"To pick one example, in my own sub-field of infectious disease epidemiology, we have in the past few years seen too little published scholarship on the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Academic publishing as it exists today is too often concerned with preservation of what we think we know, too often to the detriment of new ideas."

Bhattacharya and Makary did not wish to comment on this article.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been told to remove words frequently associated with progressive gender ideology from research manuscripts that they intend to publish.

A screenshot of a leaked internal email sent out to CDC staff, obtained by the newsletter Inside Medicine, showed a list of terms and phrases that must be removed from scientific manuscripts produced by the agency's researchers and intended for publication. 

Those terms included: "gender," "transgender," "pregnant person," "pregnant people," "LGBT," "transsexual," "non-binary," "nonbinary," "assigned male at birth," "assigned female at birth," "biologically male" and "biologically female." According to the Washington Post, the list includes about 20 terms. They indicated that the directive also ordered the removal of any use of "they/them." 

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The rule affects manuscripts under review, as well as those accepted but not yet published, no matter whether they are intended for internal circulation only or circulation outside the CDC.

A CDC spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "All changes to HHS and HHS division websites/manuscripts are in accordance with President Trump’s January 20 Executive Orders."

After taking office last month, President Donald Trump signed a slew of Day One executive orders, including one that attempts to root out "gender ideology extremism" and restore "biological truth" to the federal government. Meanwhile, in line with that order, the Trump administration's Office of Personnel Management issued a memo a little over a week later calling on all federal agencies to "take prompt actions to end all agency programs that use taxpayer money to promote or reflect gender ideology."

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In addition to the terms, CDC web pages titled "Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth | Adolescent and School Health" and "April 18 is National Transgender HIV Testing Day" have also been removed.

The removal of the terms may make it hard to read surveys and research that utilizes them as demographic identifiers, The Post reported. 

"If you are trying to optimize society, you can’t just pretend some people aren’t in it," executive director of the National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network, Scout, who legally goes by only one name, told The Post.

The Mediterranean diet has continuously shown benefits for overall health.

Researchers at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans recently discovered that the diet is linked to improved memory through balanced bacteria in the gut.

In the study, which was published in the journal Gut Microbe Reports, rats were fed a Mediterranean-style diet over a 14-week period. This included foods rich in olive oil, fish and fiber.

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Compared to those who ate a Western diet high in saturated fat, the rats that consumed the Mediterranean diet showed increases in four types of beneficial gut bacteria and decreases in five other types.

The rats were then tasked with maneuvering a series of mazes that tested their memory.

Those that were on the Mediterranean diet exhibited improved performance in the maze challenges.

The researchers deduced that individuals who follow the Mediterranean diet develop different gut bacteria patterns compared to those following a "typical Western diet," and that those gut changes were associated with learning and memory.

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"Our results suggest that there may be a relationship between diet-modulated microbiota, peripheral immune function and cognitive function," the research concluded. 

"Additional studies are needed to determine the causality between diet-modulated gut microbiota, immune function and cognitive function, and to explore additional brain mechanisms."

The Mediterranean diet group also demonstrated improved cognitive flexibility and working memory – and maintained lower levels of "bad" cholesterol.

Cory Mygrant, a California-based registered dietitian nutritionist at WellTheory, was not involved in the study but shared her reactions.

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"As a dietitian, I’m thrilled to see more evidence highlighting the Mediterranean diet's incredible power, not just for heart health but also for brain health," she told Fox News Digital.

"This study reinforces how the foods we choose can profoundly impact our gut microbiome and, in turn, our cognitive performance."

Gut health is considered "foundational to overall well-being," Mygrant noted, as it influences "everything from immunity to mental health."

"The Mediterranean diet is a fantastic option for supporting this vital system," she continued. "Rich in vibrant, flavorful foods, it can easily be woven into daily life with simple adjustments."

In an interview with Fox News Digital, study co-author Demetrius Maraganore, MD, a neurology professor at Tulane University, emphasized the difference in cognitive function and gut microbial compositions between the Mediterranean and Western diets.

The Western diet's reduced gut bacterial diversity and over-growth of bacterial species is similar to what is observed in Alzheimer's patients, he told Fox News Digital.

The expert noted that adhering to the Mediterranean diet may improve scholastic and work performance.

"The Mediterranean diet has been associated with a 50% lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and promotes higher global intelligence, memory function and executive function across the lifespan," he stated.

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To begin adopting a more Mediterranean-style diet, Mygrant suggested the following simple steps:

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"It’s about celebrating real, whole foods while keeping things flexible and enjoyable," she said.

Mygrant acknowledged that accessing fresh produce and Mediterranean staples can be challenging for some, but noted that the diet does not have to be "all or nothing."

"You can start by making small, affordable swaps — like using canned fish, frozen vegetables and whole grains — and gradually increase the focus on more plant-based foods," he suggested.

"The goal is to make nourishing choices more accessible, no matter your circumstances, while prioritizing the connection between food and well-being."

In future research, the Tulane team aims to develop novel therapies to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease by harnessing nutrition and gut microbiome changes, according to Maraganore.

A major annual cancer report has revealed a mix of good news and points of concern.

Cancer diagnoses are expected to exceed two million in 2025, with approximately 618,120 deaths predicted, according to the American Cancer Society’s annual cancer trends report, which was published today in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

ACS researchers compiled data from central cancer registries and from the National Center for Health Statistics.

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While mortality rates have declined, certain groups are seeing a spike in diagnoses, the report noted.

"Continued reductions in cancer mortality because of drops in smoking, better treatment and earlier detection is certainly great news," said lead author Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at the ACS in Georgia, in a press release.

"However, this progress is tempered by rising incidences in young and middle-aged women, who are often the family caregivers, and a shifting cancer burden from men to women, harkening back to the early 1900s, when cancer was more common in women."

Cancer death rates dropped 34% between 1991 and 2022, according to the ACS report.

That equates to approximately 4.5 million deaths avoided due to early detection, reductions in smoking, and improvements in treatment, the report stated.

Several factors likely contributed to this decline, noted John D. Carpten, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at City of Hope, a national cancer research and treatment organization in California.

"I think a big one is smoking cessation and the battle against lung cancer, which has always been the most common form of cancer and is tied to tobacco use," Carpten told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview.

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"But without a doubt, I think new and better methods for early detection, and screening for colorectal cancer and other forms of the disease, have also allowed us to see a decrease." 

Lifestyle improvements have also helped to decrease mortality, he said, along with the development of new and better therapies for cancer.

Despite overall declines in mortality, the report revealed that death rates are rising for cancers of the oral cavity, pancreas, uterine corpus and liver (for females).

Some common cancers have also seen an increase in diagnoses, including breast (female), prostate, pancreatic, uterine corpus, melanoma (female), liver (female) and oral cancers associated with the human papillomavirus, the report stated.

Diagnoses for many cancer types are increasing among certain groups.

Cancer rates for women 50 to 64 years of age have surpassed those for men, the report revealed. For women under 50, rates are 82% higher than males in that age group.

As far as what is influencing the "disconcerting trend" in women’s cancers, Carpten said it is likely "highly nuanced" and will require additional research.

"The decrease in fertility and increases in obesity that we’ve seen are risk factors for breast cancer, especially in postmenopausal middle-aged women," he said. 

"But there could be other modifiable risk factors at play, like alcohol and physical activity."

Another trend in the increase in early cancers is occurring in individuals under the age of 50, Carpten noted.

In particular, the report revealed that diagnoses of colorectal cancer in men and women under 65 and cervical cancer in women between 30 and 44 years of age has increased.

The report also discusses inequities in cancer rates among certain ethnic groups, with Native American and Black people experiencing higher diagnoses of some cancer types.

"Progress against cancer continues to be hampered by striking, wide static disparities for many racial and ethnic groups," said senior author Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance and health equity science at the ACS, in the release.

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The report shows mixed trends for children, with diagnoses declining in recent years for patients 14 years of age and younger, but rising for adolescents between 15 and 19.

"Mortality rates have dropped by 70% in children and by 63% in adolescents since 1970, largely because of improved treatment for leukemia," the ACS stated in the release.

The ACS report also warns about "lagging progress" against pancreatic cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. 

Rates of diagnoses and deaths from the disease type are on the rise.

"Pancreatic is an incredibly deadly form of cancer," Carpten said. 

One of the main issues with pancreatic cancer, he said, is that it sometimes can grow in an individual for up to 10 years before it's detected.

One of the best opportunities for beating pancreatic cancer is early detection, Carpten said. 

"By the time those cancers have advanced, they've spread to the liver or other organs, and they’re almost impossible to cure at that stage," he said.

"If we can identify those cancers when they're at a curable stage, we can improve outcomes."

Making progress in fighting cancer "takes a village," Carpten told Fox News Digital.

"It will require partnerships between the community, the health care system, cancer researchers, government, industry — we all have to work together if we want to continue to see a decrease and an ultimate increase in cures," he said.

Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, interim chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), stated that the report highlights the need to "increase investment in both cancer treatment and care, including equitable screening programs."

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"Screening programs are a critical component of early detection, and expanding access to these services will save countless lives," he said in the release.

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"We also must address these shifts in cancer incidence, mainly among women. A concerted effort between health care providers, policymakers and communities needs to be prioritized to assess where and why mortality rates are rising."

Fox News Digital reached out to the ACS for further comment.

2024 was packed with health care innovations, from a new blood test detecting Alzheimer’s disease to deep brain stimulation reversing paralysis.

Heading into the New Year, medical experts are predicting even more medical advances for 2025.

Researchers from Mass General Brigham, a health care system in Boston, Massachusetts, shared with Fox News Digital some of the scientific developments and breakthroughs they expect to see, which are also published on the hospital’s website.

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1. "I anticipate we are going to see continued breakthroughs and growth in immunotherapy for cancer, particularly with FDA approvals and commercialization of cell therapies for solid tumors. The field is also poised to make great strides in using these technologies for other conditions, like autoimmune diseases."

Bryan Choi, MD, PhD
Investigator, Department of Neurosurgery
Massachusetts General Hospital

2. "I predict novel discoveries and innovative strategies for early cancer detection and prevention will dramatically impact patient care in the coming year. With the proven success of immunotherapy for cancer treatment, there is an emerging interest in utilizing the patient’s own immune system for cancer prevention, especially in high-risk populations. This area of research is expanding rapidly and will likely generate actionable targets for investigations in patients."

Shawn Demehri, MD, PhD
Investigator, Mass General Cancer Center
Massachusetts General Hospital

3. "The current standard for treating patients with clinical stage 2 or 3 triple-negative breast cancer is to administer chemotherapy in addition to immunotherapy prior to surgery. This combination therapy leads to a better response than chemotherapy alone. However, immunotherapy comes with added toxicities that can lead to lifelong complications."

"In 2025, I anticipate significant progress will be made in identifying biomarkers in a patient’s peripheral immune system that will help determine which patients require the addition of immunotherapy and those who will do well with chemotherapy alone. This would be an important step in further personalizing breast cancer care and reducing long-term side effects."

Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, MHCM
Investigator, Department of Surgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

4. "In basic research, single-cell technologies have been advancing at an accelerated pace. In 2025, I believe we will likely see major breakthroughs in spatial transcriptomics and sub-cellular high-resolution imaging, particularly in the context of embryo development and understanding of cancer progression and resistance."

Raul Mostoslavsky, PhD
Investigator, Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research
Massachusetts General Hospital

5. "I believe we will see a greater focus on the long-term impact of multiple environmental factors on disease states, such as cancer development processes. There is a misconception that many non-hereditary diseases, such as non-hereditary cancer, are the result of short-term risk factor exposure. I think that research in the coming year will shift focus on the long-term impacts of multiple disease-causing factors."

Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD, MS
Chief of Molecular Pathological Epidemiology Program, Department of Pathology
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

1. "I anticipate we’ll see an uptick in usage of artificial intelligence (AI) to support physicians while they care for patients, streamline workflows, and improve diagnostics and treatments in 2025. We’re also likely to see expanded use of robotics and AI in complex surgeries, particularly for brain and spine procedures."

E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, FAANS
Executive Director, Center for Tumors of the Nervous System
Mass General Brigham

2. "I predict that advances in non-invasive brain stimulation will change how we care for patients with brain disease, including accelerated protocols that improve symptoms in days rather than weeks, personalized protocols that target the most bothersome symptom in each patient, and at-home devices that make brain stimulation accessible to more patients."

Michael Fox, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

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3. "Advances in focused ultrasound technology offer the potential for non-invasive, targeted, and temporary opening of the blood-brain barrier. This could allow therapies that were previously ineffective — due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier to reach their target in the central nervous system — to directly target tissues. I think we will see a breakthrough in this area of research in the next year, enabling treatments for a wide range of brain disorders, including neurological, psychiatric and neurosurgical conditions."

Alexandra Golby, MD
Investigator, Neurosciences Center
Brigham and Women’s Hospital  

4. "Starting in 2025, it will become possible to administer transcranial magnetic stimulation to treat depression over the course of just days instead of weeks, which, aided by pharmacological co-agents, will still lead to a very high remission rate in treatment-resistant patients."

Andreas Horn, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

5. "I predict that the prevention of dementia, stroke and depression will become a cornerstone of patient-directed primary care. In 2024, we saw the publication of several high-impact validation studies of the Brain Care Score (BCS), a tool designed to help people everywhere use the most robust science to guide their daily lifestyle choices and reduce their risk of dementia, stroke and depression by up to 50%. In parallel, we have laid the groundwork to empower people everywhere to use the BCS routinely, and to bring it with them to their next primary care visit with a health care provider."

Jonathan Rosand, MD, MSc
JP Kistler Endowed Chair in Neurology
Co-Founder, McCance Center for Brain Health
Massachusetts General Hospital

6. "I foresee advances on several fronts of dementia care as a major theme for health care in 2025. This includes AI-assisted approaches to improve early diagnosis, novel ways of delivering personalized treatments, and advances in care delivery as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-developed GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) Model of Care is implemented nationwide. I also predict that caregiving for persons with dementia will gain further recognition as a major element of health care, requiring more resources and attention."

Ipsit V. Vahia, MD
Investigator, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry
McLean Hospital 

1. "I believe in 2025 we can expect to see the completion of the first large outcomes-focused clinical trial from a group of new medications that target lipoprotein(a), a unique type of 'bad cholesterol' that increases a patient’s risk for cardiovascular disease. Up to this point, the treatment paradigm for patients with elevated lipoprotein(a) has been to aggressively modify other risk factors, but we may soon have more targeted treatment options."

Michael Honigberg, MD, MPP
Investigator, Cardiology Division
Massachusetts General Hospital

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2. "Cardiac critical care has transformed into its own discipline, but remains largely reactive to treating patients as they become sicker. I envision that in 2025, the discovery of molecular biomarkers will shift the care paradigm to a more proactive approach. Molecular biomarkers may help us identify patients most at risk of disease and start interventions earlier, maybe even preventively."

Edy Kim, MD, PhD
Investigator, Pulmonary Division
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

3. "I predict that in 2025, we will see significant advancements in women's health research. In particular, I hope to see major breakthroughs that improve quality of life and cardiovascular health in mid-life/menopausal women, a group that has been historically underappreciated."

Emily S. Lau, MD, MPH
Investigator, Cardiometabolic Health and Hormones Clinic
Massachusetts General Hospital

4. "In 2025, I anticipate we will see the introduction of two intertwined advances. First, the integration of artificial intelligence-facilitated algorithms for the early detection of cardiovascular illness, which will move us closer toward early prevention. We also envision a focus on using genetically informed treatments to reduce the risk of atherosclerotic heart disease, valvular heart disease and heart failure. Together, these important advances will usher in an era of personalized health care in cardiovascular disease."

Mandeep R. Mehra, MBBS, MSc
Executive Director, Center for Advanced Heart Disease
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

5. "In the coming year, I anticipate a marked increase in focus on cardio-kidney-metabolic health, necessitating new patient-centered models of interdisciplinary care."

Pradeep Natarajan, MD, MMSc
Director, Preventive Cardiology
Massachusetts General Hospital

1. "In 2025, I believe we will uncover the answers to remaining questions about nutrient metabolism and why a calorie is not a calorie, thereby improving our understanding of why some people gain weight."

Caroline Apovian, MD
Co-Director, Center for Weight Management and Wellness
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

2. "In the coming year, I see artificial intelligence being integrated more into health care as a supplement to physician knowledge and intuition. With the amount of biomedical data we are generating, I predict AI tools will improve our ability to interpret and apply the most salient information to individual patients, resulting in a personalized approach to patient care. I also predict that AI will continue to greatly reduce the administrative burden on providers and enable them to spend more time with their patients."

William Hwang, MD, PhD
Investigator, Center for Systems Biology, Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research, Department of Radiation Oncology
Massachusetts General Hospital

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3. "I think in 2025, we will see the implementation of generative artificial intelligence language models (i.e., chatbots) for some aspects of routine clinical care, such as the preparation of patient communications, generation of preliminary diagnostic test reports, or summarization of patient medical records."

Shaan Khurshid, MD, MPH
Investigator, Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Family Foundation Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias
Massachusetts General Hospital

4. "In 2025, I think we will recognize the power of drones and begin to use them to transform the way we deliver health care by making the home the center of care. Drone-facilitated care will impact primary care, urgent and emergency care, and even enable public health leaps by bringing care directly to patients in ways we never thought possible (or maybe thought were possible only for the Jetsons)."

David Levine, MD, MPH, MA
Clinical Director of Research and Development
Mass General Brigham

5. "Increased access to emerging technologies and personalized data, combined with information specifically tailored for the individual, will drive self-care in health and wellness in more patients, initially in preventative medicine, in the next year. This phenomenon will begin to impact chronic disease management and progressively more complex conditions and will accelerate devolution of care and responsibility for many conditions to the patient — who is often best placed to understand their own health."

Calum A. MacRae, MD, PhD
Vice Chair for Scientific Innovation
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

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6. "Treatments for rare genetic diseases are rapidly being translated to clinics. With close to 40 gene and cell therapies approved and hundreds expected to come down the pipeline, I believe that in 2025, we will see many more patients benefiting from genetic therapies."

Susan A. Slaugenhaupt, PhD
Scientific Director, Mass General Research Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital

Getting a certain number of daily steps has long been known to boost overall health — and now a new study has pinpointed how many you need to keep depression at bay.

A research team led by Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni, PhD, from Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca, Spain, analyzed 33 studies involving 96,173 adults.

In comparing the adults’ daily step counts and rates of depression, they found that people with higher daily step counts tended to have fewer depressive symptoms, according to the study findings, which were published in JAMA Network Open last week.

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Getting 5,000 or more steps was linked to reduced depressive symptoms, while a step count of 7,000 or higher was associated with a lower risk of depression, the researchers found.

"Our results showed significant associations between higher numbers of daily steps and fewer depressive symptoms, as well as lower prevalence and risk of depression in the general adult population," the authors wrote in the findings.

"The objective measurement of daily steps may represent an inclusive and comprehensive approach to public health that has the potential to prevent depression."

More than 7% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression, with those between 12 and 25 years old most affected, according to data from the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but commented on the review.

"This is an extensive analysis of over 30 observational studies, so it needs to be followed up with prospective randomized studies," he told Fox News Digital. 

"There is already a vast body of evidence, including this study, that exercise is associated with mood improvement, a natural antidepressant."  

The reason that a higher step count reduces depression isn't only psychological, the doctor said — it's also physical. 

"Exercise increases the release of the ‘happy hormones’ — dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin," Siegel added.

Previous studies have found that walking has effects on brain networks that are essential in improving mood, depression and anxiety, according to Dr. Richard A. Bermudes, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer of BrainsWay in Nevada.

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"The more sedentary we are, or the more we sit, the more depressed we get," Bermudes, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. 

"We also know that there is an incremental benefit to walking — every increase of 1,000 steps per day was associated with a 9% lower risk of depression."

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Genetics, psychological factors and social stressors also play a role in depression, he noted.

"However, we know that natural light exposure, general movement and walking in natural settings or nature have positive mood effects." 

Bermudes encourages those struggling with depression to "take it one step at a time."

"For those with severe depression, try incrementally day after day, increasing by 100 steps each day," he suggested. 

"If you work and are stuck at a desk most days, schedule 15-minute breaks to exercise the brain by taking a walk."

Walking outside is more beneficial, Bermudes added, as it provides natural light exposure.

Fox News Digital reached out to the study researchers for comment.

At the beginning of 2024, the American Cancer Society predicted that 2,001,140 new cancer cases and 611,720 cancer deaths would occur in the United States.

Now, as the year draws to a close, experts are looking back and reflecting on the discoveries and advances that have been made in the field of cancer treatment and prevention.

Fox News Digital spoke with four oncologists from the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, about the most notable accomplishments of 2024 and what they see on the horizon for 2025. 

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See the answers and questions below. 

A: In the field of lymphomas, we see growing momentum for therapies that use the patient's own immune system to fight their cancer, such as CAR T-cell therapy and bispecific antibodies. 

These are treatments that are now being studied and are making an impact earlier in the disease course, including one now being studied as the very first treatment a patient might receive for their lymphoma. 

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These treatments are helping us to be less dependent on chemotherapies (which may be effective but have broad side effects) for the treatment of lymphomas.  

A: Every year we are improving the curative treatment options we have for specific types of lymphomas, such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which is the most common lymphoma we see. 

We are also gradually becoming better able to offer these treatments closer to – or in – patients’ homes and communities, so they can receive the best care as close to home as possible. 

I believe that in 2025, we will continue to see more advancement in immunotherapies, development of more targeted therapies (including oral medicines), and hopefully soon the approval of next generations of immunotherapies that may work for patients who have already received today's immunotherapies but need more treatment options.

A: It has changed and evolved dramatically. A decade ago, care for lymphomas was primarily chemotherapy-based. Now, we are shifting rapidly away from chemotherapies in some types of lymphomas in favor of immunotherapies and targeted oral therapies that lead to excellent long-term outcomes for patients, with fewer side effects than historical treatments.

A: We think of lymphomas as diseases of aging for most patients. Some patients may have select risk factors, such as being on specific immunosuppressants or having exposure to very specific industrial chemicals. 

Those risks may or may not be so modifiable for patients, and they represent the minority of patients who develop lymphoma. 

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While it is not entirely clear what modifiable risks patients may have, there is ongoing work to help better answer that question. However, we know that the better general health someone is in, the more likely they are to have any and all treatment options available to them. 

I would say that for most people, exercising regularly, eating well and sleeping regularly are important.

A: There is great hope and a lot of exciting science happening to help us drive toward more cures, more effective treatments and less toxic treatments for lymphomas. 

We have already made major strides in the last decade, and we continue to build on that momentum through clinical trials that provide early access to cutting-edge therapies. 

For patients, participating in clinical trials may help to close that time gap between the treatments that are broadly available today and the treatments we expect to be available years from now. 

They also provide a way for patients to contribute positively to the care patients in future generations may receive, which I have been told by many of my patients is something they really want to do and something that is important to them.

A: The two most exciting focuses of 2024 were 1) expansion of targeted therapies in the curative setting for hormonally driven breast cancer and 2) antibody drug conjugates. 

First, three different CDK4/6 inhibitors have been approved in the metastatic setting, and they improve survival and outcomes. 

In 2024, we saw the approval of a second one in the curative setting, enabling us to identify the highest-risk patients and offer them something additional to endocrine therapy to improve cure rates.

Second, we now have multiple antibody drug conjugates approved across all types of breast cancer. These therapies target a chemotherapy drug directly to the tumor via an antibody-honing mechanism and largely spare normal body cells.

A: I anticipate seeing more targeted agents in 2025 and the approval of antibody drug conjugates in curative early breast cancer — currently, most are only approved in metastatic cancer.

[I also anticipate] drugs that are better tolerated with decreased side effects for patients, and a continued emphasis on personalized medicine. 

A: In 2024, truly personalized medicine is possible, from mutation testing to direct targeted therapy to what a cancer needs to grow — as well as being able to provide many HR+ breast cancer patients with curative chemotherapy through personalized risk stratification assays.

A: Continued breast screening with mammograms yearly is really important to find cancers earlier when a cure is more likely.  

People can also reduce their risk through avoiding alcohol and cigarettes and making sure they get regular exercise and maintain a normal body weight.

A: In 2024, precision cancer treatment made big strides with many new drug approvals by the FDA, specifically for treatments guided by specific biomarkers, which means treatments can be more precisely tailored to the genetic makeup of a person's cancer. 

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A key change was moving some therapies from faster, temporary approval processes to full approval, showing strong evidence that these targeted therapy drugs, such as tepotinib and amivantamab for certain types of lung cancer, are effective and safe. 

There were also new drug approvals for rare cancers, including tovorafenib, a BRAF precision medicine for a rare type of brain tumor in children, and afamitresgene autoleucel, a type of immunotherapy for a rare cancer called synovial sarcoma. This highlights important progress in treating these challenging conditions.

We have also seen the approval of precision therapies that work on different types of cancer — not just one specific cancer. This is what we call "tissue-agnostic therapies." 

One such drug is an antibody drug conjugate called trastuzumab deruxtecan, which acts like a smart missile targeting HER2-positive cancers. Another is repotrectinib, which works on any cancer that has the NTRK biomarker, regardless of where it is in the body.

A: By 2025, cancer research is likely to see advancements in precision oncology and the use of artificial intelligence. 

In precision oncology, we can expect more personalized treatment plans based on an individual's genetic makeup, leading to more effective and targeted therapies with fewer side effects. 

Additionally, AI will likely play a larger role in analyzing vast amounts of data to identify new drug targets, predict patient responses to treatments and enhance early detection methods. 

These advancements have the potential to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment and overall patient outcomes.

A: In the last 10 years, cancer treatment has changed dramatically. By using genetic information to create personalized treatments that match the specific details of each person's cancer, therapies are more effective and less harmful. 

New technologies such as analyzing cancer's genetic profile, blood tests that detect cancer, and treatments that boost the immune system have greatly improved how we diagnose, track and treat cancer, leading to better results for patients.

A: To lower the risk of cancer, people can avoid smoking, eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, limit alcohol, protect their skin from the sun and maintain a healthy weight.

A: Get vaccines for viruses like HPV and hepatitis B, as they can lead to some cancers. Also, go for regular health checks to catch any signs of cancer early. 

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We are in a unique time when treatments can be tailored specifically to each person, and many of these are available through clinical trials. If you or a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, ask your doctor if there are any clinical trials that might be a good fit.

A: The first cellular therapy, Lifileucel, was approved in melanoma after decades of research in academia and industry. 

This is a significant step forward for both patients with melanoma, but also the field of oncology at large.

A: As we look to bring effective therapies from the metastatic setting into early stages of disease, we are anxiously awaiting updates in the next 18 to 24 months for a number of ongoing trials for combination therapy for patients with high-risk stage 2 or 3 melanoma.

A: Outcomes for melanoma have significantly changed over the past 10 years. 

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The five-year survival for patients with a diagnosis of stage 4 melanoma was less than 5% before 2010, and now clinical trials have shown that more than 50% of patients are still alive 10 years after being treated with FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitors.

A: Lifelong sun protective measures, such as wearing sunscreen, avoiding direct UV exposure during peak hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and avoiding tanning beds continue to be important starting at an early age.