U.S. cancer death rate has dropped 34% since 1991, with survivors expected to top 22 million by 2030

A cancer diagnosis doesn’t always mean what it used to. New data from the American Cancer Society shows the U.S. cancer death rate has fallen significantly since 1991, preventing nearly five million deaths. More than 18 million Americans are now living after a cancer diagnosis, and that number is expected to surpass 22 million by 2030.

According to the American Cancer Society, the U.S. cancer death rate has dropped 34% since 1991. For both men and women, early detection, targeted drugs, immunotherapy, and precision medicine, tailored to each person’s cancer, are driving the decrease in death rates. Immunotherapy was described as a game changer, including ways of engineering the immune system directly to fight the cancer.

One patient’s case reflected that shift in cancer care. A routine blood test revealed multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. He began immunotherapy and a daily oral drug called lenalidomide. Ten months later, his numbers were “unquantifiable,” a sign of remission.

The prognosis, or what patients can expect going forward as far as how long they will live, and the quality of that time, has improved dramatically. Patients are being told to expect to live for decades to come with the disease.

But while cancer survival is improving overall, the progress is not equal. The American Cancer Society reports Black Americans still have the highest cancer death rates in the country, about 19% higher for Black men and 12% higher for Black women compared to white Americans. Minority and underserved communities are also more likely to be diagnosed at later stages and have less access to screening, as well as less access to new treatments and clinical trials. Researchers say closing those gaps could save thousands more lives in the years ahead.