Overall cancer mortality ticked down a percentage point, approvals for new anticancer drugs increased by a third, and research drove multiple breakthroughs in immunotherapy and precision medicine in the past year, according to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Progress Report 2025.

These gains, outlined in the 270-page report from the AACR, represent “extraordinary momentum in cancer research” and highlight the power of medical research to “transform the lives of cancer patients.”

Aiming to keep that momentum going, in the same report, the AACR implores Congress to ensure adequate federal support for cancer research.

Each September, since 2011, the AACR has released its report highlighting advances in prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer in the past year and providing a roadmap for continued progress.

Now in its 15th year, the report represents “both a record of how far we have come and a reminder of how much more is possible if we protect and strengthen the national cancer research enterprise,” CEO Margaret Foti, MD, PhD, said during a press briefing.

Currently, there are about 18.6 million cancer survivors in the US, and that number is projected to surpass 22 million by 2035, which underscores the amount of work that remains, Foti stressed.

Steady Progress

The 12 months from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, saw 20 new anticancer drug approvals, topping the 15 approvals touted in the 2024 report. Meanwhile, the reduction in overall cancer deaths between 1991 and 2023 reached 34%, up slightly from the 33% reduction between 1991 and 2021, as noted in the 2024 report.

Two new imaging agents were also approved, compared to one the prior year, while two minimally invasive tests — both for colorectal cancer — were approved, just as in 2024.

However, new indications for previously approved anticancer drugs dropped from 15 to 8 this year.

Among the specific advances highlighted in the report are approvals of:

• The first T-cell receptor therapy for patients with synovial sarcoma
• A new therapeutic antibody targeting a novel protein on stomach cancer cells
• The first immune checkpoint inhibitor for anal cancer
• The first menin-targeted therapy for acute myeloid leukemia
• A novel cytotoxic fusion protein for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
• A new CAR T-cell therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia
• An isocitrate dehydrogenase-targeted therapy for brain tumors
• A new antibody-drug conjugate benefiting patients with breast cancer or lung cancer

Overall survival rates also continue to improve, the AACR notes: As of 2025, nearly half of all US cancer survivors have lived 10 or more years since their diagnosis, and 22% have lived at least 20 years.

“Collectively, advances such as these — as well as those highlighted in the past 14 editions of this annual report — are helping more children and adults live longer, fuller lives following a cancer diagnosis, with fewer treatment-related side effects,” the report states. “The 5-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined has increased from 49% for those diagnosed between 1975 and 1977 to 70% among those diagnosed between 2015 and 2021.

“Similar progress has been made among US children (aged 0-14) and adolescents (aged 15-19) diagnosed with cancer, whose 5-year relative survival rates increased from 58% to 85% in children and from 68% to 87% in adolescents over the same time period.”

Shortfalls and Roadblocks

The Cancer Progress Report also highlights areas where progress is lacking and where more research is needed.

Despite the substantial progress, cancer remains “an enormous public health challenge,” the report states.

In 2025, an estimated 2,041,910 new cancer cases will be diagnosed and an estimated 618,120 people will die from the disease.

Rising rates of early-onset cancers have also emerged as a pressing and largely unexplained issue. From 2011 to 2019, more than 2 million new cancer diagnoses occurred in individuals aged 15-49 years.

Significant disparities exist among racial and ethnic minority groups and medically underserved populations. For example, between 2015 and 2021, 5-year survival rates were lower across all racial and ethnic minority groups (61.7%-68.4%) than among non-Hispanic White individuals (70.8%).

Progress also lags for certain cancer types. For pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma multiforme, the overall 5-year relative survival rates are just 13% and 6%, respectively, whereas the rates for breast and prostate cancer are 92% and 98%, respectively.

Addressing disparities such as these requires the development of new and effective tests for early detection and expansion of eligibility for established screening recommendations, the AACR stressed in the report.

“Additionally, improving and expanding therapeutic options for difficult-to-treat cancers will require intensive research that builds on existing knowledge to uncover the biological drivers of these diseases and inform the development of more effective treatments,” the report states.

A Call to Action

The AACR has asked Congress to take the following immediate actions:

• Restart clinical trials and restore canceled research grants.
• Support federal research infrastructure.
• Protect public health programs that prevent cancer.
• Ensure new treatments reach patients without delay.
• Foster early-career and early-stage scientists and stabilize research careers.
• Defend the independence and integrity of science by reversing an August executive order related to federal grantmaking.
• Reassert America’s global leadership in medical innovation to preserve decades of progress and ensure the US remains at the forefront of the next generation of cures.
• Provide at least $51.303 billion for the National Institutes of Health and $7.934 billion for the National Cancer Institute in fiscal year 2026.

Sharon Worcester, MA, is an award-winning medical journalist based in Birmingham, Alabama, writing for Medscape Medical News, MDedge, and other affiliate sites. She currently covers oncology, but she has also written on a variety of other medical specialties and healthcare topics. She can be reached at sworcester@mdedge.com or on X @SW_MedReporter.