Cancer Survival Boost
Record Cancer Survival Rates Emerge as Targeted Drug Era Improves Patient Outcomes
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A record 7 out of 10 cancer patients in the United States now survive at least five years after diagnosis — up from fewer than half in the 1970s and 63% in the mid-1990s. American Cancer Society estimates that 18 million Americans who have ever had cancer are still alive today, marking what researchers call a historic turning point in modern medicine.
The milestone is driven by a new generation of targeted drugs that attack specific genetic flaws in tumors instead of blasting the whole body. The shift has turned many cancers from death sentences into chronic conditions — diseases people live with for years, sometimes decades. "It's still working," said Michelle Vacca, a 59-year-old lung cancer patient who has been on an experimental targeted drug for nearly 10 years.
How Survival Rates Doubled in 50 Years
In the mid-1970s, a cancer diagnosis gave patients a coin-flip chance of survival. Today, targeted therapies have pushed five-year survival to 70%, according to ACS. The gains are especially sharp in cancers once considered near-untreatable. Survival in metastatic melanoma climbed from 16% in the mid-1990s to 35% today. Multiple myeloma — a blood cancer — jumped from 32% to 62% in the same period.
Cancer deaths in the U.S. have been falling since peaking in 1991. Since then, roughly 4.8 million deaths have been averted, according to ACS. Rebecca Siegel, the society's senior scientific director and lead author of the 2026 report, called the 70% milestone a "stunning victory" — but warned the gains are "threatened by proposed federal cuts to research."
Targeted Drugs Replaced the 'Scorched Earth' Era
Old-fashioned chemotherapy kills all fast-growing cells — healthy ones included. Targeted drugs work differently. They hunt specific genetic mutations inside tumor cells and block them. The 1998 approval of Herceptin for breast cancer was an early breakthrough. Then in 2001, Gleevec transformed chronic myeloid leukemia from fatal to manageable. The Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, accelerated the field by mapping the genetic blueprints of tumors.
The latest advance came in May 2026, when FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary fast-tracked "expanded access" to daraxonrasib — a new drug for pancreatic cancer — in just 48 hours. Early data shows it cuts the risk of death by 60%. Makary said he was "hopeful today's action will improve lives," citing his own experience treating patients with metastatic cancer.
Life-Saving Drugs Come With a Crushing Price Tag
The survival gains have a steep cost. A full 95% of new cancer drugs launched in 2023 cost more than $100,000 per year. U.S. spending on cancer therapies is projected to hit $180 billion by 2028, up from $99 billion in 2023, according to ACS. Cancer is now the top driver of employer healthcare costs for the fourth straight year. Despite better odds of surviving, 51% of U.S. cancer patients still go into debt paying for treatment.
Drug prices keep rising. Manufacturers raised prices on 64 cancer drugs in the first week of 2026 alone. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 gave Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices for the first time, claiming $12 billion in net savings in its second round of negotiations in May 2026. But drugmakers argue price controls slow innovation. Industry groups say post-approval research on small-molecule drugs dropped 47% since the law passed.
Rural Patients Are Being Left Behind by Progress
The survival revolution is not reaching everyone equally. A June 2026 study by ACS researcher Dr. Farhad Islami found rural Americans face 14% higher cancer mortality rates than urban residents. Only 3% of medical oncologists practice in rural communities, even though 20% of Americans live there. Fewer screening facilities and longer travel times mean rural patients are often diagnosed later — when cancer is harder to treat.
Oncologists warn that financial and geographic barriers could stall progress. Dr. Jason Westin of MD Anderson cites drug shortages and unstable federal funding as the field's biggest threats. The science has outpaced the system built to deliver it. For every Michelle Vacca who gets to say "it's still working," millions of others still struggle to access the drugs that could save them.
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