BMJ study finds CTE in at least 24.5% of deceased former NFL players

A BMJ study published Aug. 25, 2026 found confirmed chronic traumatic encephalopathy in at least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021. The findings strengthen calls for living diagnosis tools and could affect athletes, military personnel and others exposed to repetitive head impacts.

Why it matters: - The BMJ findings sharpen concerns that chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, may be underdiagnosed during life. - A reliable living diagnosis could change how clinicians evaluate, monitor and potentially treat people exposed to repetitive head impacts. - The impact extends beyond former NFL players to athletes in other contact sports and military service members.

What happened: - A retrospective cohort study published Aug. 25, 2026, in The British Medical Journal examined former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021. - The study estimated that at least 24.5% of those former players had confirmed CTE at death. - CereMark Pharma highlighted the study in a release dated Aug. 31, 2026.

The details: - CTE can be definitively diagnosed only through post-mortem examination. - Research has linked cumulative exposure to repetitive head impacts, including concussive and sub-concussive impacts, with higher risk of CTE and other neurodegenerative diseases. - Dr. Julian Bailes, CereMark Pharma’s chief medical officer, said the study reinforces the need to develop reliable methods to identify CTE during life. - Dr. Bailes said clinicians cannot effectively diagnose, monitor or treat a disease that can currently be confirmed only after death. - Dr. Bailes said the findings support further research into positron emission tomography, or PET, imaging and neurodegeneration. - Dr. Bailes said football players, soccer players, ice hockey players, military service members and others exposed to repetitive head impacts may experience long-term neurological effects. - Dr. Bailes said better tools to identify CTE during life could improve patient evaluation, support potential therapy development and provide objective measures for tracking treatment response.

Between the lines: - The study adds more urgency to a long-running gap in brain injury care: CTE remains a pathology doctors can confirm only after death. - The release positions PET imaging as a possible path toward earlier detection, which could matter for both clinical care and drug development. - The broader implication is that the problem is not limited to professional football and may involve any population with repeated head trauma.

What’s next: - CereMark Pharma said it remains committed to advancing F-18 Flornaptitril, or FNT, its investigational PET imaging radiopharmaceutical. - F-18 FNT is being evaluated in a pivotal Phase 3 trial. - F-18 FNT is classified by the FDA as an investigational new drug and has not been approved by the FDA. - More information about CereMark Pharma and its Phase 3 clinical trial is available here.