How to Find Information About a Specific Cancer Type on cancer.gov

Start at the NCI home page and use the "For People Affected by Cancer" section, which links to a Find a Cancer Type entry point. From there you can reach pages covering causes and risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and staging, treatment options, and side effects for a given cancer type. The same section also includes Find a Clinical Trial, and if you still have questions you can reach a cancer information specialist at 1-800-4-CANCER, by live chat, or by email.

The main path: from the home page to a cancer type

cancer.gov is organized around two audience areas that appear on the home page: For People Affected by Cancer and For Researchers. For a specific cancer type, you want the first one.

1. Open cancer.gov.
2. Locate the For People Affected by Cancer section.
3. Select Find a Cancer Type.
4. Choose the cancer type you are looking for.

NCI describes itself in that section as "the nation's trusted source for cancer information," and states that it provides information about causes and risk factors, symptoms, how cancer is diagnosed, and treatment options. Those are the content dimensions you should expect once you land on a specific cancer type page.

What you can find on a cancer type page

The home page lists these entry points under For People Affected by Cancer:

A practical way to use these: start with Find a Cancer Type to identify the disease, then use Diagnosis & Staging and Treatment to go deeper, and use Side Effects if you are managing treatment effects. Causes & Prevention is the section to check if your question is about risk rather than a diagnosis.

Moving from a cancer type to clinical trials

Clinical trials are a separate entry point rather than something you have to hunt for inside a cancer type page. Use Find a Clinical Trial in the For People Affected by Cancer section. If you are looking for trials in a specific disease area, having the cancer type identified first makes the search more targeted.

If you cannot find what you need

NCI provides a direct help channel rather than leaving you to search alone. The home page's Get Answers block states you can connect with a cancer information specialist:

• Phone: 1-800-4-CANCER
• Live chat
• Email

This is the right fallback when a term is unclear, when you are not sure which cancer type page applies, or when you need help interpreting what you found.

For researchers and funding questions

If your question is not about a patient-facing cancer type but about research support, the home page has a separate For Researchers section with Funding Opportunities, Apply for a Grant, Find a Research Contact, and Research Areas. NCI notes that it has 30 divisions, offices, and centers, and that it relies on advisory committees for advice on the National Cancer Program and NCI scientific priorities — useful context if you are trying to figure out which part of the organization handles your topic.

Quick reference

• Specific cancer type → For People Affected by Cancer → Find a Cancer Type
• Treatment details → Treatment
• Diagnosis questions → Diagnosis & Staging
• Risk and prevention → Causes & Prevention
• Trial options → Find a Clinical Trial
• Human help → 1-800-4-CANCER, live chat, or email