Cancer survival is rising, but not for everyone

For decades, a cancer diagnosis was often seen as a death sentence. Today, survival is steadily improving, thanks to advances in science, medicine, and public health. Yet the gains are uneven, leaving some cancers, and some patients, far behind.

A half-century of progress

In the 1970s, only half of cancer patients in the USA survived five years beyond diagnosis. That figure has now climbed to nearly 70%. In England and Wales, half of all patients now live for at least ten years, double the rate in the early 1970s.