On Sept. 21, 2022, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released the 12th edition of its AACR Cancer Progress Report, an annual report that chronicles how basic, translational, and clinical cancer research, and cancer-related population sciences, primarily supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.

The age-adjusted overall cancer death rate has declined by 32 percent between 1991 and 2019 in the United States, a reduction that translates into nearly 3.5 million cancer deaths avoided Siegel RL, et al. Cancer statistics, 2022. Among children and adolescents with cancer, overall death rates have declined by more than half between 1970 and 2019, largely due to advances in treatment. Cancer statistics, 2022. In addition, in the past three years, the number of adults and children living in the United States with a history of cancer rose by more than a million, exceeding an estimated 18 million on January 1, 2022

The AACR reported that the decline in the rate of cancer mortality had accelerated in recent years, as reflected by a 2.3 percent decrease in cancer deaths every year between 2016 and 2019.

The steady decline in the overall cancer death rate can be attributed mainly to the unprecedented progress against lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer, the four most common cancer types in the United States.

Among the major advances made across the clinical cancer care continuum from August 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022, are the eight new anticancer therapeutics approved for use by FDA. During this period, FDA also approved two new imaging agents to help visualize cancerous cells, several artificial intelligence-based tools to improve detection and diagnosis of cancers, and new uses for 10 previously approved anticancer therapeutics.