Trump Rules Force Cancer Registries To ‘Erase’ Trans Patients From Public Health Data

By Rachana Pradhan December 11, 2025

The National Cancer Institute's Shady Grove Campus in Rockville, Maryland. (National Institutes of Health)

LISTEN: “People get better care when we know who they are.” That belief is at the heart of why scientists and LGBTQ+ health advocates oppose a new rule that makes it harder to collect data on trans patients with cancer. KFF Health News correspondent Rachana Pradhan appeared on WAMU’s Health Hub on Dec. 10 about the change from the Trump administration.

This story also ran on WAMU. It can be republished for free.

In 2026, the Trump administration will require U.S. cancer registries that receive federal funding to classify patients’ sex as male, female — or not stated/unknown. That last category is for when a “patient’s sex is documented as other than male or female (e.g., non-binary, transsexual), and there is no additional information about sex assigned at birth,” the new standard says.

LGBTQ+ health advocates say that move in effect erases transgender and other patients from the data. They say the data collection change is the latest move by the Trump administration that restricts health care resources for LGBTQ+ people.

KFF Health News correspondent Rachana Pradhan appeared on WAMU’s Health Hub on Dec. 10 to explain why LGBTQ+ health advocates worry this change could hurt public health and the care patients receive.

A photo of a sign outside the National Cancer Institute's campus in Rockville, Maryland.

US Cancer Registries, Constrained by Trump Policies, To Recognize Only ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ Patients

Under Trump policies, cancer registries in 2026 will have to classify sex data strictly as male, female, or unknown, a change scientists and advocates say will harm the health of one of the nation’s most marginalized populations.

X
Facebook
LinkedIn
Email
Print
Republish This Story

Rachana Pradhan: rpradhan@kff.org, @rachanadpradhan

Copy And Paste To Republish This Story

Trump Rules Force Cancer Registries To ‘Erase’ Trans Patients From Public Health Data

By Rachana Pradhan December 11, 2025

Article HTML

<h1>Trump Rules Force Cancer Registries To ‘Erase’ Trans Patients From Public Health Data</h1>
	<span class="byline">Rachana Pradhan</span>

<p>LISTEN: “People get better care when we know who they are.” That belief is at the heart of why scientists and LGBTQ+ health advocates oppose a new rule that makes it harder to collect data on trans patients with cancer. KFF Health News correspondent Rachana Pradhan appeared on WAMU’s <em>Health Hub</em> on Dec. 10 about the change from the Trump administration.</p>

<p>In 2026, the Trump administration <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/transgender-patients-us-cancer-registries-trump-only-male-female-unknown/">will require</a> U.S. cancer registries that receive federal funding to classify patients’ sex as male, female — or not stated/unknown. That last category is for when a “patient’s sex is documented as other than male or female (e.g., non-binary, transsexual), and there is no additional information about sex assigned at birth,” the new standard says.</p>

<p>LGBTQ+ health advocates say that move in effect erases transgender and other patients from the data. They say the data collection change is the latest move by the Trump administration that restricts health care resources for LGBTQ+ people.</p>

<p>KFF Health News correspondent Rachana Pradhan appeared on WAMU’s <em>Health Hub</em> on Dec. 10 to explain why LGBTQ+ health advocates worry this change could hurt public health and the care patients receive.</p>

<p />
<div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-text sd-sharing"><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-x"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"
				data-shared="sharing-x-2129835"
				class="share-x sd-button no-icon"
				href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-cancer-registries-sex-assigned-at-birth-transgender-data-rule/?share=x"
				target="_blank"
				aria-labelledby="sharing-x-2129835"
				>
				<span id="sharing-x-2129835" hidden>Click to share on X (Opens in new window)</span>
				<span>X</span>
			</a></li><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"
				data-shared="sharing-facebook-2129835"
				class="share-facebook sd-button no-icon"
				href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-cancer-registries-sex-assigned-at-birth-transgender-data-rule/?share=facebook"
				target="_blank"
				aria-labelledby="sharing-facebook-2129835"
				>
				<span id="sharing-facebook-2129835" hidden>Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)</span>
				<span>Facebook</span>
			</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"
				data-shared="sharing-linkedin-2129835"
				class="share-linkedin sd-button no-icon"
				href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-cancer-registries-sex-assigned-at-birth-transgender-data-rule/?share=linkedin"
				target="_blank"
				aria-labelledby="sharing-linkedin-2129835"
				>
				<span id="sharing-linkedin-2129835" hidden>Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)</span>
				<span>LinkedIn</span>
			</a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"
				data-shared="sharing-email-2129835"
				class="share-email sd-button no-icon"
				href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Trump%20Rules%20Force%20Cancer%20Registries%20To%20%27Erase%27%20Trans%20Patients%20From%20Public%20Health%20Data&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2FMjExOTIzNg&share=email"
				target="_blank"
				aria-labelledby="sharing-email-2129835"
				data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="62ac106642" data-email-share-track-url="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-cancer-registries-sex-assigned-at-birth-transgender-data-rule/?share=email">
				<span id="sharing-email-2129835" hidden>Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)</span>
				<span>Email</span>
			</a></li><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"
				data-shared="sharing-print-2129835"
				class="share-print sd-button no-icon"
				href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-cancer-registries-sex-assigned-at-birth-transgender-data-rule/#print?share=print"
				target="_blank"
				aria-labelledby="sharing-print-2129835"
				>
				<span id="sharing-print-2129835" hidden>Click to print (Opens in new window)</span>
				<span>Print</span>
			</a></li><li class="share-republish">
				<a
					rel="nofollow"
					class="share-republish sd-button"
					title="Republish this story"
					href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-wamu-health-hub-cancer-registries-sex-assigned-at-birth-transgender-data-rule/view/republish/" >
					<span>Republish This Story</span>
				</a>
			</li></ul></div></div></div>

We encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. Here’s what we ask:

You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org site. If possible, please include the original author(s) and KFF Health News” in the byline. Please preserve the hyperlinks in the story.

Have questions? Let us know at KHNHelp@kff.org