The overall cancer death rate decreased by 34% between 1991 and 2023, according to the American Association for Cancer Research’s Cancer Progress Report.
The report ties the declining death rate, therapeutic innovations and improved screening practices to medical research conducted by the National Institutes of Health.
“Turmoil at NIH and other federal health agencies threatens ongoing and future progress for patients,” a Sept. 17 AACR news release said.
Here is what to know from the report:
- The 34% reduction in the overall cancer death rate between 1991 to 2023 translates to more than 4.5 million averted cancer deaths.
The U.S. cancer death rate declined 1.54% annually between 2011 and 2023, and fell 1.33% and 1.81% annually among women and men, respectively. - There were about 18.6 million cancer survivors living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, about 5.5% of the country’s population. The number of cancer survivors is expected to exceed 22 million by 2035.
- Cancer survival varies across cancer types, from 92% for breast cancer and 98% for prostate cancer, to 6% for glioblastoma multiforme and 13% for pancreatic cancer.
- According to the report, 40% of all cancers can be attributed to modifiable risk factors.
The most common cancer causing risk factors are tobacco use, excess body weight, physical inactivity, ultraviolet radiation, alcohol consumption, environmental factors and psychosocial factors — such as stress — which may contribute to excessive alcohol consumption and poor dietary habits. - The AACR report calls for Congress to take “immediate action” to preserve federal investment in cancer research.
The specific calls to action are:
- To restart clinical trials and restore canceled research grants.
- To repair the “damage caused by mass reductions in workforce, frozen contracts and suspended peer review.”
- To protect public health initiatives aimed at cancer prevention and screening.
- To stabilize the cancer research workforce to “stop the exodus of postdoctoral researchers and junior investigators who are abandoning science or being recruited overseas.”
- To “provide no less than $51.303 billion for NIH and $7.934 billion for NCI in fiscal year 2026 to sustain the scientific workforce, power new breakthroughs against cancer and other human diseases, and uphold a national commitment to the patients and families who are relying on lifesaving progress.”
Read the full report here.
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