Cancer Survival Rates Hit 70% in the United States

When Thomas Goode was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2005, doctors gave him three to five years to live. Twenty-one years later, he's biking through Iceland, leading support groups, and showing newly diagnosed patients what hope looks like.

His story represents a remarkable shift in cancer care. The American Cancer Society reports that the five-year survival rate for all cancers combined has reached 70% for people diagnosed between 2016 and 2021 in the United States.

"This is evidence of all the hard work that millions of people have put in over decades," says Dr. Haley Simpson, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UNC School of Medicine. "The thing that matters most is that people are around to spend time with their families who otherwise wouldn't have had that chance."

The numbers tell an incredible story of progress. Since the mid-1990s, survival rates for multiple myeloma have jumped from 32% to 62%. Liver cancer survival has more than tripled from 7% to 22%, and lung cancer survival has nearly doubled from 15% to 28%.

Two major factors drive these improvements. Doctors now screen more people earlier, catching cancers when they're most treatable. Meanwhile, new therapies developed through decades of clinical trials give patients options that simply didn't exist a generation ago.

Why This Inspires

Some cancer researchers are now asking a question that seemed impossible just years ago: Are we curing diseases once considered incurable? Last September, results from a CAR T-cell therapy trial showed some multiple myeloma patients cancer-free at five years with no treatment at all.

These aren't just statistics on a page. They're parents attending graduations, grandparents meeting grandchildren, and friends sharing countless ordinary moments that matter most.

Goode reflects on his unexpected journey with gratitude. "When I look over all the things I've surpassed, I thank God for where I am," he says. "I thank God for medicine, treatment options, and clinical trials, because the people who have been on these trials paved the way for myself and others."

He now receives monoclonal antibody treatments every two weeks and takes a daily pill at home. The diagnosis that threatened to end his life became the catalyst for experiences he never imagined, including helping start the Triangle chapter of the International Myeloma Foundation.

For newly diagnosed patients facing fear and uncertainty, Goode offers living proof that cancer is increasingly becoming a chronic condition rather than a death sentence. "Others look at me and say, 'Hey, that's hope,'" he explains. "Now I have confidence that this myeloma journey is not going to be as bad as I'm thinking it could be."

Every percentage point in those survival statistics represents thousands of people getting more time with the ones they love.