Cancer Death Rates Fall One-Third in US Since 1990s as Prevention Efforts Take Hold (economist.com)

(Thursday July 17, 2025 @11:21AM (msmash) from the encouraging-feedback dept.)

Cancer death rates in the U.S. have [1]fallen by approximately one-third since the 1990s when adjusted for age, according to data cited in a new analysis of global cancer trends. The decline represents a steady, year-over-year reduction that began in the early 1990s and continues across developed countries.

Prevention efforts have contributed substantially to the decline. Reduced smoking rates in wealthy nations prevented more than 3 million cancer deaths since 1975 in America alone. Britain's HPV vaccination program, launched in 2008 for teenage girls, produced a 90% reduction in cervical cancer rates among women in their 20s within 15 years. Treatment advances have transformed outcomes for specific cancers. Childhood leukemia, once virtually fatal, now has a five-year survival rate above 90%.

Researchers have identified inexpensive drugs with cancer-prevention properties, including aspirin, which cuts bowel cancer risk in half for patients with Lynch syndrome. Future progress faces obstacles, however, including high treatment costs and planned cuts to the National Cancer Institute under the Trump administration. China overtook America as the primary source of cancer research in 2025.

[1] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/07/17/the-world-is-winning-the-war-on-cancer

Yes, it's political, Su Mi (Score:1)

by Tablizer ( 95088 )

The Tinted One will take credit in 3...2...1...

Weird (Score:2)

by jrnvk ( 4197967 )

I was told seed oils caused cancer /s

Great (Score:2)

by backslashdot ( 95548 )

Good thing we zeroed funding for cancer research right as we're starting to turn the tide against it. Go #MAGA.

Re: Great (Score:2)

by tiananmen tank man ( 979067 )

What does it matter if someone makes outrageous claims, or if others believe him.

On the flip side ... (Score:2)

by Freischutz ( 4776131 )

> Cancer Death Rates Fall One-Third in US Since 1990s as Prevention Efforts Take Hold

On the flip side, contagious disease rates are increasing sharply as Trump administration charges forward with systematically dismantling vaccination efforts under the banner of dumbfuck.

not prevention (Score:2)

by groobly ( 6155920 )

It's not prevention, it's tons of way better treatment and earlier detection.

Be thankful (Score:3)

by RobinH ( 124750 )

While it's important to keep working on issues of the day, it's also important to look back at where we were and how far we've come. Progress like this is based on small incremental improvements over decades and even centuries. About a hundred years ago, the death rate from measles in the US averaged about 5 per 100,000, which would mean roughly 15,000 deaths per year today just in the US. All those lives are being saved *every year* just due to a single vaccine program. We need to be thankful for the work that prior generations did that are truly amazing and have improved our lives immensely. It's trendy to complain about how bad life is, but that's disingenuous when you realize how bad people had it throughout history. Heck, just look at the [1]infant mortality rate in the US [macrotrends.net].

[1] https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/usa/united-states/infant-mortality-rate

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