Better messaging can fight cancer, save lives
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 18-Sep-2025 23:11 ET (19-Sep-2025 03:11 GMT/UTC)
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, according to the World Health Organization. It accounted for 660,000 new cases and 350,000 deaths in 2022.
Screening, along with early detection and treatment, can greatly improve a patient’s chances of survival. But in low- to middle-income countries, many women are not being screened, and they’re disproportionately dying from the disease.
In new research from Texas McCombs, Anima Nivsarkar, a doctoral student in marketing, uncovers a powerful tool to boost screening: trust. When messages are delivered by trusted and credible sources such as doctors and peers, they increase the likelihood that women will seek potentially life-saving exams.
Twenty-seven species of bacteria and fungi among the hundreds that live in people’s mouths have been collectively tied to a 3.5 times greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer, a study led by NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center shows.