“Stunning Victory”: Cancer Survival Hits Record Highs in the U.S.

A new American Cancer Society report shows major progress in the fight against cancer: about 70% of people diagnosed between 2015 and 2021 now survive at least five years. That’s a huge jump from 63% in the mid-1990s and less than 50% in the 1970s. Even people with advanced (metastatic) cancer are living longer — five-year survival has doubled from 17% to 35%.

Big improvements were seen in cancers once considered nearly untreatable, including lung cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, melanoma, and rectal cancer. Experts credit better treatments (targeted therapies and immunotherapy), reduced smoking rates, earlier detection, and decades of investment in cancer research.

Cancer deaths overall have dropped 34% since 1991, preventing an estimated 4.8 million deaths. Today, many cancers are increasingly managed like chronic diseases rather than immediate death sentences.

However, challenges remain. Some cancers are still rising (prostate, pancreas, breast, colorectal in younger adults), and lung cancer remains the deadliest cancer due to late diagnosis and low screening rates. There are also serious racial and access-to-care disparities in outcomes.

Bottom line: cancer survival is improving faster than ever — a real medical breakthrough — but prevention, early detection, and equal access to care are still critical.

Leiser, M., Biele, H., Armenian, S. H., Siegel, R. L., & Jemal, A. (2026, January 13). ‘Stunning victory’: 70% of people with cancer survive at least 5 years. Healio.