Cancer progress turns the page as survival hits 70%

At the 2026 ASCO meeting, a line graph showing daraxonrasib nearly doubling median survival for a form of advanced pancreatic cancer sparked a standing ovation, illustrating a broader cancer turn: US cancer deaths have fallen 34% since 1991 and the five-year survival for all cancers reached about 70% for those diagnosed 2015–2021, driven by immunotherapy, vaccines, and CAR‑T therapy; yet high drug costs and, more worryingly, funding cuts to NIH/NSF risk slowing the scientific engine behind these gains.