Although overall cancer mortality rates have seen a steady decline since 1991, future gains are potentially being threatened by factors such as federal cuts to cancer research and health insurance barriers, according to data from the 2026 editions of the annual Cancer Statistics and Cancer Facts & Figures reports, which were conducted by the American Cancer Society and published on January 13, 2026.1,2
Topline findings from Cancer Statistics revealed that approximately 2,114,850 new cancer cases and 626,140 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the US in 2026.1 Moreover, the mortality rate has continued to decrease through 2023, averting 4.8 million deaths since 1991; the report attributed this decline to a variety of factors, including smoking reductions, earlier detection, and improved therapeutic options.
“Cancer Facts & Figures [and] Cancer Statistics are collaborative efforts, requiring months of effort on the part of the surveillance research team and others throughout the American Cancer Society,” Tyler Kratzer, MPH, an associate scientist II of cancer surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and a coauthor of the report, explained in a statement to OncLive®. “The goal of both publications is to provide a statistical resource to the general public, public health professionals, and advocacy groups, as well as to help inform public health policy and research goals and describe disparities in cancer outcomes. The goal of the Cancer Statistics report, specifically, is to provide this same resource for a more clinical audience.”
Topline Takeaways from Cancer Statistics and Cancer Facts & Figures
- Approximately 2,114,850 new cancer cases and 626,140 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the US in 2026.
- The cancer mortality rate has continued to decrease through 2023, averting 4.8 million deaths since 1991, due to variables such as smoking reductions, earlier detection, and improved treatment options.
- Cancer disparities by race and ethnicity persist, driven in part by unconscious bias, treatment inequality, and socioeconomic deprivation.
What were the key findings of the Cancer Statistics report and how was it conducted?
The authors of Cancer Statistics used US population–based incidence data collected by the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. They also included incidence data from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. The National Center for Health Statistics provided mortality data from 1930 to 2023.
Mortality and incidence rates were standardized to the 2000 US standard population (19 age groups for incidence, 20 age groups for mortality) and expressed per 100,000 individuals.
“Treatment advancements have contributed most to improved distant-stage survival,” Kratzer noted. “These include immunotherapies and game-changing targeted therapies that have resulted in large increases in 5-year relative survival for distant-stage lung cancer, melanoma, rectal cancer, and stomach cancer.”
Additional data from Cancer Statistics demonstrated that the 5-year relative survival rate reached 70% for diagnoses that occurred during 2015 through 2021. The respective 5-year relative survival rates for regional-stage and metastatic disease were 69% and 35%, respectively, representing significant gains from the respective figures of 54% and 17% in the mid-1990s.
“The most notable finding is that 5-year relative survival has reached a milestone 70%, with dramatic increases for several more fatal cancers, such as myeloma, liver cancer, and lung cancer,” Kratzer said. “Survival for advanced lung cancer, which 3 in 4 patients are diagnosed with, has increased from 20% to 37% for regional disease and from 2% to 10% for distant-stage disease. Despite this progress, lung cancer will cause the most cancer deaths in 2026, more than second-ranking colorectal cancer and third-ranking pancreatic cancer combined.”
From 2015 to 2021, 5-year relative survival rates rose for patients with high-mortality cancers and advanced diagnoses such as myeloma, liver cancer, metastatic melanoma, and metastatic rectal cancer, with respective gains from 32% to 62%, 7% to 22%, 16% to 35%, and 8% to 18%.
Although the gains reported in Cancer Statistics are notable, the report also outlined remaining barriers in terms of cancer disparities when examined by race and ethnicity. The American Indian and Alaska Native population had the highest cancer incidence, and mortality rates in women and Black men had the highest sex-specific rates. Specifically, the incidence rate in Black men during 2018 to 2022 was 78% higher compared with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander men, at 541 individuals vs 304 individuals per 100,000.
The report authors noted that unconscious bias, treatment inequality, and socioeconomic deprivation all contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in oncology. Additionally, even after controlling for cancer stage at diagnosis and socioeconomic status, cancer survival rates were lower among Black individuals compared with White individuals for nearly every cancer type. Inequalities also contributed to later stages of diagnosis; 56% of uterine corpus cancers and 58% of breast cancers were diagnosed at a localized stage in Black women vs 71% and 69%, respectively, in White women, according to the report.
“Access to high-quality health care is an important factor contributing to racial disparities in the US,” Kratzer said. “For example, recent research has shown that [approximately] two-thirds of the colorectal cancer mortality disparity between Black and White [individuals] could be eliminated by ensuring the same quality of screening. Lack of diversity in clinical trials also contributes to disparities in treatment quality and is an area of increasing focus.
What notable trends were flagged in Cancer Facts & Figures?
Cancer Facts & Figures is an educational companion for Cancer Statistics.2 The Cancer Facts & Figures component included a breakdown of projected new cancer cases by state; California led the US with approximately 206,500 new diagnoses projected for 2026.
Cancer Facts & Figures also contained a section covering cancer risk factors, with special attention being paid to tobacco use and nutrition and physical activity. Although the prevalence of current US adults who smoke cigarettes has declined from 42% in 1965 to 11% in 2024, over 80% of lung and laryngeal cancers and 50% of esophageal, oral/nasal cavity, and bladder cancers are caused by smoking, according to the report.
In terms of nutrition and physical activity, adults who closely follow the American Cancer Society guideline on diet and physical activity were found to be approximately 10% to 20% less likely to be diagnosed with cancer and approximately 24% to 30% less likely to die from cancer. The respective proportions of cancer cases and deaths attributable to excess body weight in adult individuals who are at least 30 years old were 53%, 37%, 35%, and 35% for uterine corpus, gallbladder, esophageal, and liver cancers.
“[Although] we have made remarkable progress in reducing cancer mortality due to reductions in smoking and improvements in early detection and treatment, the burden of cancer remains high and there are no evidence-based preventive and/or early detection methods for many cancers, and treatment options remain limited for many cancers,” Kratzer noted. “This reemphasizes the importance of investment in research and access to care, both of which are threatened by proposed federal cuts to these areas.”
References
- Siegel RL, Kratzer TB, Wagle NS, Sung H, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2026. CA Cancer J Clin. 2026;76(1):e70043. doi:10.3322/caac.70043
- Cancer facts & figures 2026. American Cancer Society. Accessed January 28, 2026. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2026/2026-cancer-facts-and-figures.pdf
