Weekly digest
This week at Cancer Explained
Everything new on the site this week — explainers, cancer news, and a few guides worth revisiting. Updated with each publish (last updated October 25, 2026).
New explainers
- Understanding Report Language
What Do Stage Letters Like 2A and 3B Mean?
What the letters after a cancer stage number, such as 2A, 3B or IIIC, mean, with examples from colon, ovarian and prostate cancer. Based on the National Cancer Institute.
- Understanding Report Language
What Does a FIGO Stage Mean?
What a FIGO stage such as IB2, IIIC1 or IVB means on a cervical, ovarian or endometrial cancer report, in plain language. Based on the National Cancer Institute.
- Understanding Report Language
What Does Neoplasm Mean on a Report?
Neoplasm is another word for tumor. On a report it can mean benign or malignant, so look at the word next to it. Based on the National Cancer Institute.
- Understanding Report Language
What Is a PSMA PET Scan?
What a PSMA PET scan is, what it is used for in prostate cancer, and how it differs from a regular PET scan. Based on the National Cancer Institute.
- Understanding Report Language
What Is the Dye in an MRI With Contrast?
What the dye used in some MRI scans is, what it does, and what to tell the imaging staff before the scan. Based on the National Cancer Institute and NIBIB.
This week in cancer news
- Trending topic
Ultra-Processed Foods and Brain Scans: What the New Study Found, and What It Did Not
A Fox News headline says ultra-processed foods are linked to 'silent brain damage.' The JAMA Network Open study found a link with small changes on brain MRI, but not with memory or thinking tests, and it cannot show cause.
- Trending topic
Susie Wiles Says a Routine Mammogram Found Her Breast Cancer: What Screening Can and Cannot Do
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has said she had no symptoms and that a mammogram found an aggressive breast cancer early. Here is what screening mammograms are for, and who is advised to have them.
- Trending topic
FDA Expands Anktiva to Papillary-Only Bladder Cancer That Stopped Responding to BCG
On 14 October 2026 the FDA widened the approved use of Anktiva, given with BCG, to adults with high-grade papillary-only bladder cancer that has not spread into the bladder muscle and did not respond to BCG.
Worth revisiting
Cornerstone guides — the picks rotate weekly.
- Treatments
Types of Cancer Treatment: An Overview
A plain-language overview of the main types of cancer treatment, based on National Cancer Institute resources.
- Costs & Practical Help
Paying for Cancer Treatment: Insurance and Costs
A plain-language guide to cancer treatment costs — understanding your insurance, copays and deductibles, talking to your care team about money
- Featured guide
Just Diagnosed? Start Here
A calm, step-by-step starting point for the first weeks after a diagnosis.
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