The partnership's Crucial Catch initiative works to improve cancer outcomes nationwide by addressing access to cancer screening. Â Â
ATLANTA, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- When caught early, the five-year survival rate for many cancers is over 90%. This year, the American Cancer Society and the NFL's Crucial Catch initiative supported projects that helped deliver more than 1.1. million cancer screenings. Those efforts reached a milestone of 2.7 million people with education, patient navigation, screening reminders, and resources that help reduce barriers to screening. Since 2009, the partnership has focused on improving cancer outcomes by educating fans on the importance of cancer screening, early detection, and risk reduction, while raising funds for CHANGE grants that help community health centers and NFL-affiliated or in-market hospitals in under-resourced areas improve access to cancer screening. In 2025, Crucial Catch projects impacted 435 participating clinic sites from 64 health systems, reached over 760,018 eligible patients, diagnosed 9,757 cancers, and helped to increase cancer screening rates by an average of 4.1 percentage points.
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