Cancer in the US

The American Cancer Society’s newest report on cancer in the US shows cancer is the second leading cause of death. That may sound bad, but there’s progress. That doesn’t sound like progress, Dave.   

It’s true, cancer is still a killer but during the past 10 years, cancer death rates began to fall about 1.5% percent every year: Thanks to early detection, advances in research, and new therapies. Yes, I know and the 5-year survival rate is possible for 70% of cancer cases, up from just 50% in the 1970s. So, even though a cancer diagnosis is devastating, you have a high chance of surviving it today.    

But for cancer deaths to continue to fall, we need to fund research including mRNA technology that is being used to create personalized cancer vaccines. It’s how we have a chance to cure cancer rather than just fighting it. The National Cancer Institute estimates cancer costs patients $21 billion in out of pocket costs every year, and total costs in 2020 were more than $200 billion. mRNA technology can create more affordable treatments. 

We need to restore federal funding for research and combine that with more robust standards for air pollution, water quality, and worker safety. Tackling cancer should come from every direction and we see that being compromised. But we have faith in the people working in medicine and science to restore a rigorous public health infrastructure, and we’ll continue to write about these issues.