Cancer Survival Rates Reach 70% Milestone as Research Advances Continue
For the first time, 70% of cancer patients in the U.S. survive five years or more after diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society's 2026 report. Advances in immunotherapy, CAR T-cell therapy, and screening technologies have driven significant improvements, particularly for lung cancer and myeloma. The definition of successful cancer care is evolving beyond survival to focus on quality of life and durable remissions.
Approximately seven in 10 people diagnosed with cancer in the United States now live five years or longer after their diagnosis, according to a 2026 cancer statistics report from the American Cancer Society. This milestone reflects decades of progress in early detection, precision medicine and immunotherapy, with researchers projecting approximately 2.1 million new cancer diagnoses and 626,000 cancer-related deaths this year.
The annual report from the American Cancer Society tracking survival rates shows that for the first time 70 percent of all cancer patients are surviving for five years or more. For lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, 28 percent of people survive five years or more now, up from just 15 percent in the mid-90s. Some cancers, like myeloma, have seen a huge jump in survival, with 30-percent more people surviving five years than they did previously.
Advancements in treatments and more people getting screened have contributed to survival rates going up for cancers of all types. Immunotherapy, advances in CAR T and all the cellular therapy have made a difference on specific cancers, along with better surgical techniques, more efficient radiation oncology techniques, and better technologies on screening. The introduction of T cell directed therapies, CAR T and bispecific antibodies has fundamentally changed survival expectations in hematologic malignancies such as multiple myeloma.
The definition of successful cancer care is evolving rapidly. Historically, treatment often meant continuous therapy indefinitely, but today the paradigm is shifting toward the goal of cure – or at least deep, durable remissions – with fixed-duration therapy rather than lifelong treatment. Success is no longer just about prolonging survival, but about enabling patients to live well after cancer, with fewer long-term toxicities and greater quality of life.
One of the most pressing gaps is access, particularly access to advanced therapies such as cellular therapies and bispecific antibodies. These treatments can be transformative, but availability remains uneven due to geographic, financial, and system-level barriers. From a survivorship perspective, there also needs to be better long-term planning for patients who receive these novel therapies, including monitoring for late effects and supporting recovery over time.
Researchers are also exploring new connections between lifestyle factors and cancer progression. A study using spatial metabolomics technology found that glycogen builds up in large amounts in the lung tissue of patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, with higher glycogen levels correlating with faster tumor growth. Experiments on mice fed a Western-style diet rich in fats and sugars showed lung tumors developed much more rapidly in mice with elevated glycogen levels, suggesting nutrition could play a meaningful role in cancer development and progression.
The greatest opportunity lies in expanding equitable access to cutting-edge treatments while building survivorship models that follow patients well beyond active therapy. The next generation of immunotherapies, including newer CAR T-cell approaches and in vivo CAR T therapies, have the potential to simplify treatment and broaden access.