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Treatment Approved to Reduce the Risk of GVHD After Donor Stem Cell Transplant

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a T-cell based immunotherapy that appears to improve chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) survival in blood cancer patients who receive donor stem cell transplants, Oncology News Central reported. The treatment, called Tregzi or Orca-T, uses stem cells and immune cells from a closely matched donor, and appears to lower the risk that donor immune cells will cause chronic GVHD, a serious complication that can occur when donor cells attack the patient’s body. “For transplant physicians, one of our greatest challenges has long been preserving the vital graft-versus-leukemia effect while minimizing the risk of GVHD and infection,” said Miguel-Angel Perales, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, in a news release from Orca Bio, the cellular therapy manufacturer. The phase III clinical trial, published March 12, 2026, in Blood and that led to the approval, evaluated 187 patients with leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome who received either Tregzi with tacrolimus, or conventional donor stem cell transplant with tacrolimus and methotrexate. At one year, 78% of people who received Tregzi were alive without moderate or severe chronic GVHD, compared with 38.4% of those who received the standard transplant with tacrolimus and methotrexate.

Many Doctors Still Not Discussing Fertility Preservation With Women

Many younger adults diagnosed with cancer confront questions about fertility preservation. However, doctors do not consistently make referrals to fertility specialists, according to a research review published in Cancer. The review analyzed 25 studies that looked at fertility preservation access among girls and women diagnosed with cancer between ages 15 and 39. In the analysis, rates of fertility preservation discussions with health care providers ranged from 9% to 75%, while the rates of fertility specialist consultations spanned from 0.9% to 57%. In most of the reviewed studies, the rates of fertility preservation discussions were less than half. Several cancer treatments can impair fertility in women or take away the ability to get pregnant naturally. Options such as freezing eggs, embryos or ovarian tissue allow survivors to protect the ability to have children after treatment, HealthDay reported. The researchers also found disparities in who receives fertility care. Being Black or Hispanic women or living in lower-income or less-educated areas was associated with significantly low rates of fertility care. Additionally, oncology teams approached older women of reproductive age less frequently than younger patients. “Despite nearly two decades of clinical guidelines establishing FP [fertility preservation] care as a core component of high‐quality oncology care, our findings reveal persistent and inequitable gaps in access shaped by demographic, socioeconomic and geographic factors,” wrote the researchers.

FDA Allows Zyn to Market Nicotine Pouches as Safer Than Cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Swedish Match USA, a subsidiary of Phillip Morris International, may now market 20 of its oral nicotine pouch products as putting users at a lower risk for mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis than smoking cigarettes. The move has been opposed by doctors and health organizations such as the American Lung Association, which called the decision “appalling.” Users tuck the pouches between their lip and their gum to absorb up to 6 milligrams of nicotine, according to a report in NBC News. The FDA’s authorization extends to flavors such as citrus, cool mint, coffee, and cinnamon but leaves out some flavors believed to be appealing to minors such as black cherry. Critics note nicotine patches are rarely used as smoking cessation aids. “The majority of people using oral nicotine products are not using them to quit combustible cigarettes. They’re using them to supplement them on airplanes or in restaurants or other indoor spaces,” Adam Goldstein, a physician and the director of Tobacco Intervention Programs at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, told NBC News. The FDA requires surveillance and studies on how consumers perceive the product’s health claims. According to the FDA announcement, the FDA can withdraw the authorization if it does not benefit public health, including if use increases among children.