As Cancer Survival Improves, We Must Transform Survivorship Care

Today, more people than ever are living for many years after a cancer diagnosis.

For the first time, 70% of people are surviving at least five years after a cancer diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society's annual Cancer Statistics report. When caught early, the 5-year survival rate for many cancers is over 90%. These milestones highlight decades of progress in prevention, early detection, and treatment, and mark a shift in what it means to live with cancer.

As survival improves, the number of people living long after a diagnosis has grown rapidly. Sometimes survivors are living with cancer as a chronic condition, or with lasting consequences of treatment.  

 “In the 1970s, a person’s chance of survival from any type of cancer was less than 50%. So, what we’re seeing here is a story of struggle that is shifting to a story of survivorship,” said Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society. “There’s a tremendous amount of hope in this milestone because it points to the fact that what we do as an organization is working. This includes everything from an increase in screening efforts, greater awareness around the importance of modifiable risk factors like smoking, and continued research that drives improved treatment and more therapies.”  

With this progress comes new challenges. The question is no longer just how to help people survive cancer, but how to support them living well in the years and often decades that follow.

The changing reality of life with cancer

The 70% survival milestone is cause for celebration, said Nicole Stout, DPT, senior director of survivorship and wellness at the American Cancer Society. Survival gains are especially pronounced for cancers that once carried grim prognoses, including multiple myeloma, liver cancer, and lung cancer. Overall, the cancer death rate decreased by 34% between 1991 and 2023, resulting in 4.8 million cancer deaths prevented during that time.  

But survivorship, Stout said, is not a clean break that occurs once treatment ends. And many people continue treatment for years or throughout their lives.

“We’ve previously thought about survivorship as this time continuum, or this phase of treatment. You end treatment, and you move into survivorship,” she said. “And we’ve got to rethink that. Survivorship starts at diagnosis and requires that we continuously engage, monitor, and manage treatment-related effects so that we can optimize an individual’s ability to participate in the things they want to do every day, for the rest of their life.”

The American Cancer Society defines survivorship as beginning the moment of diagnosis. From that point on, many survivors experience limitations that affect work, family life, and independence. These can include fatigue, neuropathy, “brain fog,” heart effects, sexual problems, body image changes, and the risk of second cancers developing. These and other long-term effects can persist for months and even years. Some people may also face financial struggles or relationship issues that continue long after a cancer diagnosis.

Long-term cancer survivors may need ongoing help to navigate long-term effects. They may need care from rehabilitation specialists, mental health clinicians, dietitians, sexual health providers, and financial counselors, in addition to their oncology and primary care teams. Meeting these needs requires thinking ahead. Shifting from reactive care to proactive support means there is ongoing care and guidance that evolves as survivors age, their health changes, or new challenges arise. 

“This is lifelong,” Nicole said. “There isn’t just this, ‘you’re in treatment, you’re done, and now we hand you off to this label of survivorship.’ It really is integrated into the full continuum from diagnosis through the lifespan.”  

More survivors, more complex needs

As of Jan. 1, 2025, an estimated 18.6 million people in the United States were living with a history of cancer, a number projected to grow to more than 22 million by 2035. That growth of 4 million new survivors over the next decade represents nearly 1,000 patients entering the survivorship phase of care every single day.

Many survivors remain on maintenance or long-term treatment. While these advances can help them live longer, they also add to the physical, emotional, and financial challenges associated with cancer.

Dr. Kamal points to Hope Lodge®, which provides free lodging for people undergoing cancer treatment. Each year, nearly 37,000 guests stay at Hope Lodge communities, totaling more than 565,000 nights of lodging.

“There’s now a record number of cancer survivors, and it’s important for us to remember that cancer is a chronic illness. It’s not something you can get rid of, but rather something that becomes part of a person’s new normal,” Dr. Kamal said. “At the American Cancer Society, we are continuously adapting to stay in step with cancer trends, which means meeting people where they are in their cancer journey and providing support every step of the way, during treatment and beyond.”

Care that supports all survivors

Today's challenge is to provide survivorship care that offers the right support at the right time throughout the cancer experience. This includes:

• Expanding survivorship care to start at the time of diagnosis.

• Ensuring oncology teams, primary care doctors, and community services work together throughout all phases of care.

• Making survivorship services easier to access in communities with fewer resources.

• Supporting caregivers because their health and well-being can affect patient outcomes.

Ultimately, the 70% survival milestone demands a commitment to support the millions who will live many years beyond their diagnosis. Survivors, Dr. Kamal said, deserve care that delivers not just more days, but “more of their best days.”

Additional American Cancer Society Resources:

Cancer Facts & Figures 2026

What is Hope Lodge?