ACS Annual Report: Cancer Mortality Continues to Drop Despite Rising Incidence in Women; Rates of New Diagnoses Under 65 Higher in Women Than Men

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American Cancer Society yearly study also shows pancreatic cancer progress lagging despite efforts to advance treatment

ATLANTA, Jan. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Cancer Society (ACS) today released Cancer Statistics, 2025, the organization's annual report on cancer facts and trends. The new findings show the cancer mortality rate declined by 34% from 1991 to 2022 in the United States, averting approximately 4.5 million deaths. However, this steady progress is jeopardized by increasing incidence for many cancer types, especially among women and younger adults, shifting the burden of disease. For example, incidence rates in women 50-64 years of age have surpassed those in men, and rates in women under 50 are now 82% higher than their male counterparts, up from 51% in 2002. This pattern includes lung cancer, which is now higher in women than in men among people younger than 65 years. These important findings are published today in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, alongside its consumer-friendly companion, Cancer Facts & Figures 2025, available on cancer.org.

"Continued reductions in cancer mortality because of drops in smoking, better treatment, and earlier detection is certainly great news," said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report. "However, this progress is tempered by rising incidence in young and middle-aged women, who are often the family caregivers, and a shifting cancer burden from men to women, harkening back to the early 1900s when cancer was more common in women."

Overall, in 2025, there will be an estimated 2,041,910 new cancer diagnoses in the U.S. (5,600 each day) and 618,120 cancer deaths. In addition to projecting the contemporary cancer burden, ACS researchers compiled the most recent findings on population-based cancer occurrence and outcomes using incidence data collected by central cancer registries (through 2021) and mortality data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (through 2022).

The report also highlights lagging progress against pancreatic cancer, which is the third leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. Both incidence and mortality rates are increasing, and the five-year survival rate is just 8% for the 9 out of 10 people diagnosed with pancreatic exocrine tumors.

"With a critical need to do better, ACS is constantly working to help advance efforts to aid in the discovery of new treatments for cancer patients and care for survivors," explained Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society. "As the largest non-government, non-profit funding source of cancer research in the U.S., we are currently financing more than $450 million in grants to scientists. Our goal is to find answers that help save lives."

Other highlights from the report include:

• Despite overall declines in cancer mortality, death rates are increasing for cancers of the oral cavity, pancreas, uterine corpus, and liver (female).
  
  
• Additionally, alarming inequalities in cancer mortality persist, with rates in Native American people 2-3 times higher than White people for kidney, liver, stomach, and cervical cancers. Black people are twice as likely to die of prostate, stomach, and uterine corpus cancers compared to White people and 50% more likely to die from cervical cancer, which is preventable.
  
  
• Incidence rates continue to climb for common cancers, including breast (female), prostate (steepest increase at 3% per year from 2014-2021), pancreatic, uterine corpus, melanoma (female), liver (female), and oral cancers associated with the human papillomavirus.
  
  
• The rate of new diagnoses of colorectal cancer in men and women younger than 65 years of age and cervical cancer in women (30-44 years of age) has also increased. Notably, lung cancer incidence in women under 65 years of age surpassed men for the first time in 2021 (15.7 versus 15.4 per 100,000 people).
  
  
• Cancer incidence in children (14 years of age and younger) declined in recent years after decades of increase but continued to rise among adolescents (ages 15-19 years). Mortality rates have dropped by 70% in children and by 63% in adolescents since 1970, largely because of improved treatment for leukemia.

"Progress against cancer continues to be hampered by striking, wide static disparities for many racial and ethnic groups," said Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president, surveillance and health equity science at the American Cancer Society and senior author of the study. "It's essential to help end discrimination and inequality in cancer care for all populations. Taking this step is vital to closing this persistent gap and moving us closer to ending cancer as we know it, for everyone."

"This report underscores the need to increase investment in both cancer treatment and care, including equitable screening programs, especially for underserved groups of patients and survivors. Screening programs are a critical component of early detection, and expanding access to these services will save countless lives," said Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, interim chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). "We also must address these shifts in cancer incidence, mainly among women. A concerted effort between healthcare providers, policymakers and communities needs to be prioritized to assess where and why mortality rates are rising."

Other ACS authors participating in this study include Tyler Kratzer, Angela Giaquinto, and Dr. Hyuna Sung.

ACS Resources:
Cancer Statistics Center
VOICES of Black Women Study 
Cancer Statistics 2024 
Breast Cancer Statistics 2024
Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander People Facts & Figures 

About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is a leading cancer-fighting organization with a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. For more than 110 years, we have been improving the lives of people with cancer and their families as the only organization combating cancer through advocacy, research, and patient support. We are committed to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. To learn more, visit cancer.org or call our 24/7 helpline at 1-800-227-2345. Connect with us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

SOURCE American Cancer Society