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Cancer mortality rate 2024

1

In 2024, cancer will kill over 611,000 Americans. That’s over one death every minute.

1.16

Cancer deaths per minute in 2024

Cancer rates in 2050

2

By 2050, the total number of annual cancer cases in the United States will surge by almost 50% to 2,300,00.

Cancer Mortality vs Smoking Rate

3

But for the decline in smoking, cancer mortality has barely dropped in 70 years.

Cancer mortality vs heart disease

4

Relative to heart disease, cancer mortality has barely dropped since 1950.

Cancer Prevalence in Women

5

1 in 3 women will develop cancer. 1 in 6 will die of cancer.

Cancer Prevalence in Men

6

1 in 2 men will develop cancer. 1 in 5 will die of cancer.

Catch Cancer When it’s Curable

7

Survival rates are high when cancer is caught early. Survival rates are low when cancer is caught late. Catch Cancer When it’s Curable.

NCI VS Keytruda

8

Early detection was only 9% of the National Cancer Institute’s $7.3 billion budget. 
Annual sales of the country’s leading immunotherapy drug were $25 billion.

Affordable and Effective

9

Compared to late-stage immunotherapy, early detection is affordable and effective.

Immunotherapy 9.1 Months

10

The leading immunotherapy drug extends life a median of:

9.1

Months

Disparities

11

Despite being diagnosed with breast cancer as frequently as white women, black women have a 40% higher mortality rate.

Cancer is Rising

12

Doctors predict that the total number of cancer cases will increase by almost 50% due to America’s aging population.

50%

Anticipated rise in cancer

The Four Deadliest Cancers Have Screening Tests

13

Lung, colon, breast, and prostate cancers are responsible for 43% of all US cancer deaths. All four cancers have established screening protocols, yet only 14% of cancers are detected using them.

14% of people catch cancer with screening

14

Despite the existence of screens for nearly half of all cancers, only 14% of these cancers are found through screening.

Washington DC

15

Washington DC Medicaid data reveals a troubling gap:

Over 50% of Medicaid patients with a cancer diagnosis do not receive treatment for their condition.

Pap Smear 60 Years

16

The Pap smear took over 60 years to develop. By 1969, it had cut cancer mortality in half, and today cervical cancer accounts for only 2% of female cancer deaths.

False Hope Issues

17

69% of stage IV lung cancer patients and 81% of stage IV colorectal cancer patients said they believed that chemotherapy offered them a chance of being cured. The reality is stage IV lung cancer has a survival rate of 8% and stage IV colorectal cancer has a survival rate of 14%.

Clinical Trial Disparity

18

The number of clinical trials for cancer treatments is 50 times greater than the number of clinical trials for cancer screening tests.

Patient Navigators improve outcomes

19

Dr. Harold Freeman invention of Patient Navigators improved 5-year survival rates of Black Women with breast cancer by over 30% during his Harlem pilot project.

Bert Vogelstein 75%

20

Dr. Bert Vogelstein, world renowned cancer genomics pioneer:

“It is possible that within the next several years, perhaps 75% of cancers can be detected by screening.”

Mammography’s Pitfalls

21

Mammography is not a perfect tool. It misses up to 25% of breast cancers. These are some contributing factors:

Screen for Life

22

The CDC’s “Screen for Life’s” $300M media campaign halved the colon cancer death rate

Recommendations

23

  1. Our most important recommendation: more money for early detection.
  2. Use mass media marketing to increase screening. 
  3. Eliminate disparities in screening and treatment. 
  4. Improve existing screening tests and require higher standards for training and protocols.
  5. Fund research and encourage investment into multi cancer early detection tests (MCED).

Sources & Notes

  1. Slide 1

    American Cancer Society, Facts & Figures, 2024.

  2. Slide 2

    Wier et al., Cancer Incidence Projections in the United States Between 2015 and 2050, 2021.

  3. Slide 3

    Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Comparative Mortality Rates, 2021.

    Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults in the United States, 2024.

  4. Slide 4

    Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Comparative Mortality Rates, 2021.

  5. Slide 5

    American Cancer Society, Lifetime Risk of Developing or Dying From Cancer, 2024.

  6. Slide 6

    American Cancer Society, Lifetime Risk of Developing or Dying From Cancer, 2024.

  7. Slide 7

    American Cancer Society, Cancer Survivorship Facts & Figures, 2020.

  8. Slide 8

    Merck, Full-Year Earnings Report, 2023.

    National Cancer Institute, Full Budget and Appropriations, 2024.

    *Keytruda gross earnings, 2024.

  9. Slide 9

    National Institute of Health, Offering Lung Cancer Screening to High-Risk Medicare Beneficiaries Saves Lives and Is Cost-Effective: An Actuarial Analysis, 2015; Keytruda.com, Cost Info & Financial Help, 2024.

    *Estimated average annual cost of LDCT lung cancer screening in Medicare for high-risk Medicare beneficiaries.

    +The list price for each indicated dose of Keytruda when given every 3 weeks is $11,337.36. The list price for each indicated dose of Keytruda when given every 6 weeks is $22,674.72. The indicated adult dose of Keytruda is either 200 mg given every 3 weeks or 400 mg given every 6 weeks. Many Keytruda patients receive treatment for two years or more.

  10. Slide 10

    Reck et al., Five-Year Outcomes With Pembrolizumab Versus Chemotherapy for Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer With PD-L1 Tumor Proportion Score ≥ 50, 2021. Even in the most eligible patients, where Keytruda works the best, and who comprise only around 25 percent of lung cancer patients (those who have PD-L1 expression ≥ 50), the gains are relatively modest at 9.1 months. 

  11. Slide 11

    American Cancer Society, Facts & Figures, 2024.

  12. Slide 12

    Weir et al., https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2021/21_0006.htm

  13. Slide 13

    National Cancer Institute, Cancer Stat Facts: Common Cancer Sites, 2024  .

    NORC at the University of Chicago, Cancer Detection Fact Sheet, 2024  .

  14. Slide 14

    NORC at the University of Chicago, Cancer Detection Fact Sheet, 2024  .

  15. Slide 15

    Pratt-Chapman, Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators, Patient Navigation Presentation, 2019.

  16. Slide 16

    Bruce Ratner and Adam Bonislawski, Early Detection: Catching Cancer When It’s Curable, 2024.

  17. Slide 17

    New England Journal of Medicine, Patients’ Expectations about Effects of Chemotherapy for Advanced Cancer, 2012. 

  18. Slide 18

    American Association for Cancer Research, Cancer Progress Report, 2022.

  19. Slide 19

    ASCO  .

  20. Slide 20

    Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) 2021 International Conference on Surgical Cancer Care.

  21. Slide 21

    American Cancer Society, All About Cancer: Mammograms, 2024

  22. Slide 22

    About the Screen for Life Campaign, 2024.

  23. Slide 23

    Ratner and Bonislawski, Early Detection: Catching Cancer When It’s Curable, 2024.

Ratner Early Detection Initiative


info@catchingcancerearly.org