Despite the continuing overall decline in cancer death rates—driven by reduction in tobacco use, improvements in early detection, and advances in treatment—the projected number of new diagnoses now tops 2 million for the first time, according to the American Cancer Society’s 2024 Cancer Statistics report.
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.
