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 release of the ACS report comes 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.”
