CAnCeR in 2015
Progress Against Cancer:
Powered by Research
Research improves survival and quality of life for millions of
individuals around the world by catalyzing the development
and implementation of new and better ways to prevent,
detect, diagnose, treat, and cure some of the diseases that
we call cancer.
It takes many years of hard work by individuals from
all segments of the biomedical research community
to bring a new medical product from initial research
discovery through approval by regulatory agencies and
into the clinic (see sidebar on The Biomedical Research
Community, p. 9). Among the new medical products
approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) between Aug. 1, 2014, and July 31, 2015, were
nine new anticancer therapeutics, one new cancer
prevention vaccine, and one new cancer screening test
(see Table 1, p. 10). During this period, the FDA also
approved new uses for six previously approved anticancer
therapeutics and one imaging agent.
Advances such as those listed in Table 1 (p. 10) help ensure
that, year after year, overall U.S. cancer death rates continue
to decrease ( 2) and that the number of people who survive
their cancer continues to rise. In fact, in the United States
alone, the percentage of the population living with, through,
or beyond a cancer diagnosis has more than tripled since
1971 ( 3-5).
The significant progress that has been and continues to
be made against cancer is the result of investments from
governments, philanthropic individuals and organizations,
and the private sector the world over. In the United States,
federal investments in biomedical research, cancer research,
and the FDA are of particular importance. The majority
of U.S. federal investments in biomedical research are
administered through the 27 component institutes and
centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the
largest of which is the National Cancer Institute (NCI) (see
sidebar on The National Institutes of Health by the Numbers,
p. 11). Continued progress against cancer requires robust,
sustained, and predictable growth in funding of lifesaving
biomedical research from all sources.
in This secTion You WiLL Learn:
• in The uni Ted s TaTes, overaLL cancer
deaTh raTes are decreasing and The
number of survivors is increasing.
• i T is ProJec Ted Tha T more Than 1. 65
miLLion PeoPLe in The uni Ted s Ta Tes WiLL
receive a cancer diagnosis, and more
Than 589,000 WiLL die from The disease
• i T is Predic Ted Tha T aLmos T 2. 4 miLLion
ne W cases of cancer WiLL be diagnosed
in The uni Ted s Ta Tes, and 24 miLLion WiLL
be diagnosed gLobaLLY in 2035.
• no T aLL segmen Ts of The u.s. PoPuLa Tion
benefi T equaLLY from advances
agains T cancer.
• The cosT of cancer is immense, boTh in
The uni Ted s Ta Tes and gLobaLLY.
from 2002 to
rates declined by
Data from ( 2)