Cancer statistics, 2026.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Descriptive population-based registry surveillance and projection study without an analytical comparator.
PubMed 41528114 · doi:10.3322/caac.70043
What was done
The American Cancer Society used population-based registry data from central cancer registries (incidence through 2022) and the National Center for Health Statistics (mortality through 2023) to project US cancer incidence and mortality for 2026 and examine long-term trends in mortality and 5-year relative survival.
What was found
In 2026, an estimated 2,114,850 new cancer cases and 626,140 cancer deaths are projected in the United States. Declining mortality averted an estimated 4.8 million cancer deaths since 1991. Overall 5-year relative survival reached 70% for 2015–2021 diagnoses (up from 63% in the mid-1990s), with regional-stage survival rising from 54% to 69% and distant-stage survival rising from 17% to 35%. Substantial survival gains since the mid-1990s occurred in myeloma (32% to 62%), liver cancer (7% to 22%), metastatic melanoma (16% to 35%), metastatic rectal cancer (8% to 18%), regional lung cancer (20% to 37%), and metastatic lung cancer (2% to 10%). Lung cancer is projected to cause more deaths in 2026 than colorectal and pancreatic cancers combined.
Why it matters
This annual report provides official national benchmarks on cancer burden and documents multi-decade survival improvements, particularly for advanced and historically lethal malignancies.
Limits
The 2026 incidence and mortality figures are modeled projections rather than direct observations, reflecting a standard reporting lag (incidence through 2022, mortality through 2023). The abstract does not provide exact population counts, confidence intervals, or subgroup breakdowns.