More people are living 5 years after cancer diagnosis, new data shows
The five-year relative survival for all cancers has reached a new milestone.
More people are now reaching the five-year milestone following a cancer diagnosis, according to new data from the American Cancer Society.
For the first time ever, seven in 10 people -- or 70% -- now live five years after their cancer diagnosis, according to the ACS's annual report released Tuesday and published in the organization's medical journal.
In addition, survival rates have improved dramatically over the past decades for people diagnosed with more fatal cancers, including myeloma and liver and lung cancers, the new data shows.
"It’s really an exciting point. If we went back to the 1970s, less than half the people would be cancer-free or surviving at five years," Dr. William Dahut, ACS's chief scientific officer, said Tuesday on "Good Morning America" of the improved statistics.
Dahut cited lower tobacco use, more early detection screenings and improved therapies as the main factors propelling the rising survival rates.
The ACS's report did find, however, that while the mortality rate for cancer is declining, the incidence rate for more common cancers -- including breast, endometrial, prostate and pancreatic cancers -- continues to rise.
In 2026 alone, the ACS projects that 5,800 people will be diagnosed with cancer each day, reaching over 2 million diagnoses in total. More than 620,000 people are projected to die from cancer this year, according to the data.
The ACS's report also found that disparities continue to persist, as Native American people and Black communities have higher rates of both cancer diagnosis and death.
The disparities are due to a combination of both differences in access to medical care and biological differences, according to Dahut.
"First of all, we need to ensure that everybody has the same access, the same screening and the same treatment," he said. "We know from the military system and other closed health systems, if you actually treat everyone with the same access … we really have the same outcomes. We can often eliminate some of the disparities, but then we have some populations that we need specific attention to."
Dahut continued, "Alaskan Natives actually have the highest colorectal cancer rates in the world, and often have colorectal cancer in their 30s and 40s ... We know that Black men are much more likely to die from prostate cancer, so we need attention. And we’re seeing Black women have an increase in endometrial cancer and some subtypes that are really difficult to treat too."
The findings in the ACS report come amid a time of challenge for cancer research amid budgetary and workforce cuts to public health agencies under the Trump administration.
In releasing the new data, the ACS also called for cancer research funding to continue in order to continue the progress made on survival rates.
"For decades, the federal government has been the largest funder of cancer research, which has translated to longer lives for people with even the most fatal cancers,” Shane Jacobson, CEO of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said in a statement Tuesday. “But now, threats to cancer research funding and significant impact to access to health insurance could reverse this progress and stall future breakthroughs. We can’t stop now. There is still much work to be done.”
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