American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

Stories

US five-year cancer survival reaches record 71 percent

Released the Cancer Progress Report 2026 in Philadelphia

A cancer diagnosis in the mid-1970s was close to a coin flip: only 49% of patients lived five years. Today, 71% do — the highest rate on record. The American Association for Cancer Research's 2026 progress report credits better screening, improved surgery and radiation, and a wave of drugs that harness the immune system or target specific tumor mutations.

Updated Oct 19

Pre-surgery immunotherapy kept bowel cancer patients cancer-free for nearly three years

New Capabilities

As of October 2026: Venue for presenting the trial's updated results

A short course of immunotherapy before surgery kept every patient with a specific form of bowel cancer free of recurrence for nearly three years. In the NEOPRISM-CRC trial, 32 patients with MMR-deficient bowel cancer received pembrolizumab for up to nine weeks before surgery, instead of the usual post-operative chemotherapy.

Updated Oct 11