Annual Report to the Nation: Declines in lung cancer, melanoma death rates drive overall cancer mortality drop

From 2015 to 2018, the overall cancer death rate in the United States fell by 2.3% per year for men and 2.1% per year for women—an unprecedented drop, led by accelerated decline in deaths from lung cancer and melanoma.

By way of comparatison, the death rate for men dropped 1.8% per year from 2001-2015, and the death rate in women declined 1.4% per year from 2001-2015, according to this year’s Annual Report to the Nation, a study conducted by several federal agencies and cancer groups.

The report, published in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also finds that overall cancer incidence rates continue to increase among females, children, adolescents and young adults. All trends in this report cover the period before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Alexandria Carolan

Reporter

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In Brief

City of Hope awarded $23.7M from ARPA-H for biomarker mapping

City of Hope has been awarded an up to $23.7 million contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The grant will help City of Hope create a biomap of tumor changes that cause immunotherapy resistance in advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

June 20, 2025

Vol.51 No.24

Clinical Roundup

Researchers identify key B-cell lymphoma traits linked with greatest benefit from CD19 CAR T-cell therapy

In the largest study of its kind, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center identified three subgroups of patients with large B-cell lymphoma who have different levels of benefit from CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy.

June 20, 2025

Vol.51 No.24

Podcast

The Directors: Candace Johnson and Jonathan Friedberg on living through uncertainty at NCI, payment woes
Directors of two neighboring cancer centers in Upstate New York will face challenges, but “we’ll get through it”

Candace S. Johnson leads America’s oldest cancer research center and Jonathan W. Friedberg leads the newest NCI-designated center. Their catchment areas are contiguous, their faculty and staff members collaborate often, and together their institutions embody the culture of NCI-designated cancer centers.

In first NCAB meeting since Trump’s inauguration, Lowy reflects on funding choices in lean times
“In the NCI director’s office, we have a photograph of a stone bridge, and it asks the question, which stone holds up the bridge? And the answer is all of them.”

In the first meeting of the National Cancer Advisory Board since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, NCI Principal Deputy Director Douglas R. Lowy addressed many of the burning questions the oncology field has for the institute. On indirect costs: NCI will continue to use previously negotiated and approved indirect cost rates, with the exception...

FDA approves Ibtrozi oral treatment for advanced ROS1+ NSCLC

FDA has approved Ibtrozi (taletrectinib) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

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Vol.51 No.23

Clinical

Young women are now diagnosed with cancer at twice the rate of young men
The face of cancer is changing at a time when research is plagued by existential threats

For more than a year before her stage 4 lung cancer was found, 35-year-old Alisa Secaida, a never-smoker and a physically active Southern Californian, had been experiencing a persistent cough and, increasingly, fatigue.

June 06, 2025

Vol.51 No.22

By Claire Marie Porter

Annual Report to the Nation: Declines in lung cancer, melanoma death rates drive overall cancer mortality drop

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

City of Hope awarded $23.7M from ARPA-H for biomarker mapping

Researchers identify key B-cell lymphoma traits linked with greatest benefit from CD19 CAR T-cell therapy

The Directors: Candace Johnson and Jonathan Friedberg on living through uncertainty at NCI, payment woes
Directors of two neighboring cancer centers in Upstate New York will face challenges, but “we’ll get through it”

In first NCAB meeting since Trump’s inauguration, Lowy reflects on funding choices in lean times
“In the NCI director’s office, we have a photograph of a stone bridge, and it asks the question, which stone holds up the bridge? And the answer is all of them.”

FDA approves Ibtrozi oral treatment for advanced ROS1+ NSCLC

Young women are now diagnosed with cancer at twice the rate of young men
The face of cancer is changing at a time when research is plagued by existential threats

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Annual Report to the Nation: Declines in lung cancer, melanoma death rates drive overall cancer mortality drop

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

City of Hope awarded $23.7M from ARPA-H for biomarker mapping

Researchers identify key B-cell lymphoma traits linked with greatest benefit from CD19 CAR T-cell therapy

The Directors: Candace Johnson and Jonathan Friedberg on living through uncertainty at NCI, payment woesDirectors of two neighboring cancer centers in Upstate New York will face challenges, but “we’ll get through it”

In first NCAB meeting since Trump’s inauguration, Lowy reflects on funding choices in lean times“In the NCI director’s office, we have a photograph of a stone bridge, and it asks the question, which stone holds up the bridge? And the answer is all of them.”

FDA approves Ibtrozi oral treatment for advanced ROS1+ NSCLC

Young women are now diagnosed with cancer at twice the rate of young menThe face of cancer is changing at a time when research is plagued by existential threats

Never miss an issue!

Login

The Directors: Candace Johnson and Jonathan Friedberg on living through uncertainty at NCI, payment woes
Directors of two neighboring cancer centers in Upstate New York will face challenges, but “we’ll get through it”

In first NCAB meeting since Trump’s inauguration, Lowy reflects on funding choices in lean times
“In the NCI director’s office, we have a photograph of a stone bridge, and it asks the question, which stone holds up the bridge? And the answer is all of them.”

Young women are now diagnosed with cancer at twice the rate of young men
The face of cancer is changing at a time when research is plagued by existential threats