Inside the 2026 Prevent Cancer Gala
The National Building Museum again played host to the Prevent Cancer Foundation as it welcomed nearly 1,000 guests for its 32nd Annual Gala on September 16th.
This year’s theme, La Isla del Encanto (the Island of Enchantment) put Puerto Rico front and center, celebrating the territory’s progress in cancer prevention and early detection while bringing together the usual Washington mix of political, diplomatic, philanthropic, medical, business, and media heavyweights.
With Governor Jenniffer González-Colón and Rep. Pablo José Hernández Rivera (D-P.R.) serving as honorary co-chairs, the evening offered plenty of Washington star power. But the real focus was often a little less about who was in the room and sometimes more about who wasn’t able to be there this year — for the saddest reasons.
The Foundation’s signature fundraiser typically brings in more than $2 million annually, supporting research, education, advocacy and community programs aimed at making cancer preventable, detectable — and, yes, beatable for everyone.
This year, the fundraising mission came with a particularly pointed target: cancers for which there is currently no guideline-recommended screening or early-detection method. While five types of cancer have recommended routine screenings, the majority do not. Donations made during the Gala are being directed toward research and innovation in that gap.
That gave the evening’s glamour some gravity.
CNN anchor and senior national correspondent Sara Sidner returned as master of ceremonies, bringing her own experience as a breast cancer survivor to the stage. Sidner has been outspoken about breast cancer disparities affecting Black women and has used her story to encourage women to get regular mammograms and pay attention to changes in their bodies.
The night also honored two members of Congress with the Foundation’s Cancer Champion awards: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.).
Scalise, a cancer survivor diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2023, has spoken publicly about his experience and the importance of early detection. Neal has spent years pushing cancer prevention and early-detection measures on Capitol Hill, including co-sponsoring the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Act, which became law earlier this year.
There were also distinctly personal moments woven through the program. Esteban Santos represented presenting sponsor Amgen, discussing the company’s work in Puerto Rico, while Dave Mitrani remembered his late wife, Lorelei Mitrani, a Prevent Cancer Foundation staff member who died from cancer earlier this year.
It was the kind of evening Washington does particularly well: formal without being stuffy, political without being purely political, and philanthropic with a clear sense of purpose and message: Finding cancer earlier can change what comes next.
