HOUSTON, Texas – The American Cancer Society (ACS) released its Cancer Statistics 2026 report on Tuesday, showing a major milestone: for the first time, seven in 10 people diagnosed with cancer survive at least five years.
The findings highlight decades of progress in cancer research and treatment, turning many cancers from a deadly disease into one that can often be managed long-term.
Since the mid-1990s, survival rates have improved dramatically for cancers once considered highly lethal. For example:
- Myeloma: 32% → 62%
- Liver cancer: 7% → 22%
- Lung cancer: 15% → 28%
Even distant-stage cancer survival has doubled for all cancers combined, from 17% to 35%. For lung cancer, five-year survival has risen to 37% for regional-stage disease and 10% for distant-stage disease.
ACS projects about 2.1 million new cancer diagnoses in 2026, roughly 5,800 per day, and over 626,000 deaths. While mortality rates have dropped 34% since 1991, incidence continues to rise for several cancers, including breast, prostate, liver, melanoma, pancreas, and uterine cancers.
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death, surpassing colorectal and pancreatic cancers combined.
The report highlights ongoing racial and socioeconomic disparities. Native American people face some of the highest cancer mortality rates, and unequal access to high-quality care contributes to these outcomes.
“The five-year survival milestone is a stunning victory,” said Rebecca Siegel, ACS senior scientific director. “But threats to research funding and healthcare access could stall future progress. There’s still much work to do.”
The full report, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and the companion Cancer Facts & Figures 2026 are available on cancer.org.