health and wellness
New Report Highlights Alarming Increase in Prostate Cancer and Advanced Stage Diagnoses
Findings heighten concern for Black men, who are at the highest risk for
diagnoses and deaths
WASHINGTON /PRNewswire/ — Prostate cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers among men nationwide, showing a 3% increase in incidence per year and a 5% increase in advanced-stage diagnoses per year since 2014, a new report shows. The report also shows that Black men continue to face disproportionate diagnoses and mortality rates, with the incidence of prostate cancer being more than 70% higher in Black men compared to white men.
“An aging population, a pandemic, and a refusal by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a Congressionally authorized group of volunteer prevention experts, to recognize the benefits of screening has created the perfect storm for increasing prostate cancer deaths and cases,” said Jamie Bearse, ZERO’s President & CEO. “This perfect storm is affecting Black patients much harder than anyone else. The way forward in fighting this appalling trend is building a diverse nationwide community of patients, caregivers, doctors, lawmakers, and partners that are equipped to advocate for better access to testing and quality care and improve education and screening outreach, especially to high-risk groups.”
Prostate cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men (aside from skin cancers) and second leading cause of cancer death in men. According to the report, the 5-year survival rate for men has decreased from 98% in 2022 to 97%.
“Prostate cancer awareness is a significant issue for me because if I had known that military service or family history had increased my chances of developing prostate cancer, I might have been diagnosed earlier,” said Darrell Wilson, an advanced prostate cancer patient.
The report showed that prostate cancer disparities between Black and white men are at their highest in over a decade. According to new data from 2022, prostate cancer is reported to consist of 37% of cancers diagnosed among Black men, with 41,600 new cases expected this year.
“Black men are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with and more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than white men. The sorting of money, knowledge, power, and beneficial social connections by race contribute to sustaining these differences over time,” said Dr. Reggie Tucker-Seeley, ZERO’s Vice President of Health Equity. “We cannot end prostate cancer without addressing the root causes of race and place-based disparities in prostate cancer.”
As the nation’s leading nonprofit in the fight against prostate cancer, ZERO recognizes that only when we can solve the growing health equity divide for those with the highest risk can we end this disease together. ZERO is addressing the health equity divide with our Health Equity Task Force and the Black Men’s Prostate Cancer Initiative. ZERO also partnered with the Prostate Cancer Foundation to create the Young Investigator Award for innovative research into the causes of racial disparities in prostate cancer and potential strategies to reduce them.
In November, ZERO led a White House discussion on prostate cancer as a part of the Biden administration’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra was part of the roundtable, which focused on increasing prostate cancer awareness and access to screening among men of color. Representatives from the American Cancer Society, Prostate Cancer Foundation, 100 Black Men of America, and Prostate Health Education Network participated in the discussion.
ZERO is combating the rising statistics by making screenings affordable and accessible nationwide. Last year, ZERO led advocacy efforts in Illinois to pass legislation to make prostate cancer screening available without co-pays or other cost-sharing, which will go into effect in 2024. Illinois will follow in the footsteps of New York, which in January of 2019 became the first state in the country to pass a law that supports full insurance coverage of the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test, as well as Maryland and Rhode Island, all of which have eliminated co-pays or cost-sharing fees for prostate cancer screening.
To join the fight against prostate cancer, sign up for the 2023 ZERO Prostate Cancer Summit, the largest annual gathering of the prostate cancer community. For more information, support, and resources, visit zerocancer.org.
About ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer:
ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer and help all who are impacted. ZERO advances research, provides support, and creates solutions to achieve health equity to meet the most critical needs of our community. From early detection to survivorship, ZERO is the premier resource for prostate cancer patients and their families to access comprehensive support, make meaningful connections, and take action to save lives.
SOURCE ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer
Community
Zum Begins 2026–27 School Year With Expanded Student Transportation Network
Zum is launching the 2026–27 school year with expanded school bus operations in Fresno, Los Angeles and other communities, bringing real-time tracking and modern transportation technology to students and families.
New partnerships in Fresno and Kansas join ongoing operations in Omaha, St. Louis, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles
As millions of students return to classrooms, transportation company Zūm is beginning the 2026–27 school year with new district partnerships, expanded technology deployments and thousands of drivers preparing for what the company calls “the most important commute in America.”
The Redwood City, California-based student mobility company announced that its teams have completed months of driver training, route validation and operational planning ahead of the new academic year.
“There is nothing quite like the first day of school at Zum,” founder and CEO Ritu Narayan said in the company’s announcement. “You see drivers arriving before sunrise, teams making final preparations and buses rolling out of yards across the country—all united around one purpose: getting students safely and reliably to school.”
New buses roll out in Fresno
One of Zūm’s largest new launches is in California’s Fresno Unified School District. According to the company, 168 buses were placed into service just two weeks after its local team moved into a new transportation yard.
The district is also introducing the Zūm Parent App, which allows families to track buses in real time, receive arrival alerts, view scheduled rides and receive notifications when a child boards or exits a bus. Registered students will receive bus cards connected to the transportation system, according to Fresno Unified.
The rollout is part of a broader change in how Fresno Unified manages student transportation. Routes and stops will continue to be evaluated using registration information, actual ridership and family feedback, the district says. Beginning September 28, registered students will generally be required to show a bus pass before boarding. Fresno Unified’s transportation page provides registration instructions and assistance for families.
Technology comes to LAUSD’s in-house fleet
In Los Angeles, Zūm says its CMX technology has been deployed across the Los Angeles Unified School District’s internally operated bus fleet.
The platform is designed to connect routing, dispatch, drivers, schools, transportation officials and families through one operating system. Its tools include real-time vehicle visibility, route planning, operational coordination and family communications.
Rather than replacing the district’s in-house drivers, the Los Angeles deployment focuses on providing the technology used to coordinate district-operated buses.
New partnership in Kansas
Zūm also began a new partnership with the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas. District leaders, drivers, monitors and school employees marked the start of the program with a launch celebration.
The company said Shawnee Mission’s transition is intended to give the district a more modern and technology-supported approach to student transportation.
Meanwhile, Zūm is returning for a third school year in Omaha and Santa Barbara. Its St. Louis operation is entering its second year.
Drivers remain at the center
Although technology plays a growing role in school transportation, Zūm emphasized that drivers remain essential to the daily experience of students and their families.
“Back to school is when months of preparation come to life,” said Liz Sanchez, Zūm’s executive vice president of student mobility. “Our teams spend months hiring and training drivers, validating routes and working alongside our district partners to prepare.”
Drivers often serve as the first school-related adults students see in the morning and the last they see before returning home. Their work can also determine whether students arrive safely and on time—especially in communities where families have limited transportation choices.
A changing school-bus experience
School transportation has traditionally depended on separate systems for scheduling, dispatching, vehicle tracking and communicating with parents. Zūm CMX is designed to bring those functions together and give school districts a clearer view of their daily operations.
For families, the most visible change may be access to real-time bus locations and arrival notifications. These tools can reduce some of the uncertainty associated with late buses, route changes and missed pickups.
Zūm reports that its technology and transportation services now support more than 6,500 schools across 19 states. As the company expands, the 2026–27 school year will test how effectively its technology, drivers and district partnerships can translate into dependable daily service.
For students, however, the goal remains straightforward: a safe ride to school, a reliable trip home and one less obstacle between them and their education.
This article is based primarily on information provided in an August 21, 2026, Zūm press release. Statements about the company’s national reach, fleet deployments and technology are attributed to Zūm unless independently noted.
Source: Zūm official website
Related links:
- Fresno Unified: Zūm Parent App
- Fresno Unified: New Transportation Model
- Fresno Unified: Bus Routes
- Fresno Unified: Back-to-School Resources
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health and wellness
Millions of mobile gamers prize stress relief over winning
Mobile Gamers Prize Stress: In the school’s car pickup line, five minutes before it starts moving. In the doctor’s office waiting room for an appointment that you’ve been heavily anticipating. In bed, just before going to sleep. In these transitional moments, many people reach for their phones — not to scroll, but to play.
Millions of mobile gamers prize stress relief over winning
(Sheeka Sanahori) In the school’s car pickup line, five minutes before it starts moving. In the doctor’s office waiting room for an appointment that you’ve been heavily anticipating. In bed, just before going to sleep. In these transitional moments, many people reach for their phones — not to scroll, but to play.
According to a June 2026 survey of more than 128,000 KashKick mobile gamers, playing a mobile game is more than a way to pass the time. Stress relief and relaxation are the top reasons respondents play, beating out entertainment and fun. As KashKick reports, for many people, this means mobile games are less a simple distraction and more a coping mechanism for the daily stress of life.
A quick reset for life’s transitional moments
Most respondents identify as women, and 60% live in households that earn less than $50,000 per year. In the ranking of their reasons for playing, stress relief and relaxation topped the list, with boredom relief, entertainment and fun close behind.
The ranking reads less like a profile of a gaming hobby and more like a profile of a coping behavior.
More than half of the respondents play games daily or multiple times a day. When they reach for a mobile game, about 53% of the time it’s for a short session—usually 30 minutes or less. Where and when people play tells its own story: 58% play in bed before going to sleep and 40% play in the bathroom. These are private, solitary moments, not the times people typically plan entertainment into their day.
Coping with stress by gaming
To understand why respondents play games for stress relief more than for fun, it helps to look at who they are. Among those surveyed, 19% say they’re unemployed or looking for work, and 60% live in lower-income households. There are likely some areas of their life where they must make every dollar stretch to cover the things they need.
The survey findings coincide with research from the American Psychological Association’s 2025 Stress in America report. According to the report, 18% of men and 22% of women under age 65 rate their stress level at eight or higher on a scale of one to 10. Although the KashKick survey didn’t measure stress, respondents are mostly women and fall within the age and income groups the APA found to carry the most stress.
The APA’s report also describes loneliness as a major strain for Americans. The KashKick survey didn’t measure feelings of isolation, but 55% prefer to play alone, and 60% rarely or never discuss their gameplay with friends or family.
Overall, the survey identifies a group of people who have found a routine, low-cost approach to cope with stress. They’re not necessarily there to get the highest score. They’re playing a mobile game to help them navigate a day that, with all of life’s to-dos and challenges, could quickly feel overwhelming.
Methodology
The KashKick Gaming Habits Survey was fielded from June 8, 2026, through Aug. 10, 2026, among KashKick members in the United States who play mobile games. The Gaming Habits Survey was available to all members on KashKick’s Surveys page post-profile completion. The survey received 128,218 total responses, with question-level response counts ranging from approximately 109,793 to 128,218 depending on attrition. All findings describe KashKick mobile gamers and should not be interpreted as representative of U.S. mobile gamers overall. Industry and stress context references publicly available data from the American Psychological Association, Statista, and Newzoo.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
KashKick
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Child Health
Pediatric Cancer Goes Beyond a Victory Bell: How Research and Innovation Improve Survivorship Rates
(Feature Impact) For every tear-jerking video found online of a child ringing a bell that signifies a cancer journey victory, there are dozens, if not more, people working behind the scenes. From leading minds in cancer research to doctors, nurses and support staff, a vast network of people and decades of medical advancements make those moments possible.
In fact, in the last 10 years, the FDA approved 10 new immunotherapies and 20 molecularly targeted therapies to treat pediatric cancers, according to the American Association for Cancer Research. Those breakthroughs – and the children they impact – come with a cost, which is why Hyundai Hope on Wheels has served as a pioneer in increasing survival rates by investing $303 million in pediatric cancer research over nearly three decades.
Those funds have supported more than 1,600 grants to 210 institutions, leading to new insights into cancer biology, clinical trials and new drug development while bringing hope at all stages of a child’s cancer journey.
However, there remains work to be accomplished. According to a survey conducted by Atomik Research on behalf of Hyundai Hope on Wheels, 46% of U.S. adults believe that a child ringing a hospital bell after cancer treatment signifies the child is cancer-free and their medical journey is largely over. The reality is more nuanced than that. In fact, more than one-third of respondents said they’re not familiar with the term cancer survivorship or they have heard the term but don’t fully understand what it means.
Many health care organizations define survivorship as beginning at the time of diagnosis and continuing through treatment and beyond. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, children who survive cancer face several long-term physical and psycho-social challenges due to their cancer and treatment, including planned surgeries, additional rounds of radiation or other forms of medical treatment to address common physical challenges stemming from chemotherapy.
Survival rates continue increasing with scientific and technological breakthroughs, up from 75% to 85% in nearly three decades, representing roughly 40,000 more children surviving their diagnoses. More than 3 in 4 U.S. adults are encouraged by that progress.
For survivors, treatment is just the beginning. Research, follow-up care and long-term funding determine what comes next, and every grant funded and every survivorship program backed means more children reaching adulthood.
According to the survey, more than 80% of adults said they’re more likely to support organizations that fund survivorship services, creating opportunities to fund crucial research and support for children facing pediatric cancer. Collaboration among leading minds, made possible by funding from organizations like Hyundai Hope on Wheels, has led to the development of comprehensive approaches to help children thrive during life after cancer, including enhanced medical records, AI integration, socioemotional support and combatting long-term side effects.
Find more information and ways you can join the fight by visiting HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
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