The overall cancer death rate has fallen 35% since 1991, according to the American Association for Cancer Research’s “Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2026.”
The improved cancer survival rate has contributed to a cancer survivor population of more than 18.6 million, the AACR said in a June 24 news release.
The AACR releases the report every two years to highlight progress in reducing cancer disparities and the gaps that remain.
Here are 10 things to know from the report:
Progress
- Lung cancer mortality rates in the U.S. between Black and white populations shifted from being 23% higher for Black individuals in 1991 to 4% lower among Black individuals in 2024.
- Cervical cancer mortality rates between Hispanic and white women narrowed from being 70% higher for Hispanic women in 2000 to 10% higher in 2024.
- Stomach cancer mortality rates between Asian or Pacific Islander and white populations fell from 150% to 81% higher in Asian or Pacific Islander populations between 2000 and 2024, respectively.
Racial and ethnic disparities
- Black and American Indian or Alaska Native individuals continue to have the highest overall cancer death rates in the U.S.
- American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander and Hispanic populations have higher incidence and mortality rates for stomach, gallbladder and liver cancers.
- The largest increases in rates of early-onset colorectal cancer have occurred among American Indian or Alaska Native populations, while lung cancer rates are increasing among Asian women who have never smoked.
Demographic disparities
- Compared to individuals who live in metropolitan or urban areas, those who live in rural counties have a 17% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer and are 27% more likely to die from the disease.
- Cervical cancer mortality is 49% higher among women who live in counties with persistent-poverty than among women who live outside those areas.
- Lesbian women had a nearly twofold higher incidence rate of thyroid cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma than heterosexual women.
Research implications
- More than 70% of all U.S. counties had no active cancer clinical trials in 2022, while 86% and 44% of nonmetropolitan and metropolitan counties, respectively, had no cancer clinical trials.
Read the full report here.
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