AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025 Highlights Breakthroughs in Blood Cancers and How NIH Funding Uncertainty Threatens Advances

Lillian L. Siu, MD, FRCPC, FASCO, FAACR

The 15th edition of the annual AACR Cancer Progress Report presents a mixed picture of the major advances in cancer care over the past year, including the approval of 20 new anticancer drugs, juxtaposed against the continuing rise in early-onset cancers and disparities in care as well as the threat posed by a proposed 40%¹ reduction in federal funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), from about $48 billion to $27 billion. According to the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025,² due to the budget cuts across all federal health agencies, coupled with grant delays, canceled clinical trials, mass layoffs throughout the research workforce, and political interference, the cancer research and clinical care community is “facing its most serious funding crisis in a generation.” The risk of the continued assault on the scientific community, according to the report, is “reversing hard-won progress against cancer.”

Snapshot of a Year of Progress in Cancer Treatment

The past year has seen profound progress against cancer. According to the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025, this year, the number of cancer survivors in the United States will reach about 18.6 million, a number that is projected to reach more than 22 million by 2035. Advances in precision medicine and immunotherapy are credited with revolutionizing how cancer is diagnosed and treated, especially in hematologic malignancies, which have seen a rise in survivorship to nearly 1.7 million, as of January 1, 2025.

“This year’s report shines a spotlight on the remarkable progress against hematological malignancies over the past decade,” said Lillian L. Siu, MD, FRCPC, FASCO, FAACR, President of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), during a press briefing announcing the findings in the AACRCancer Progress Report 2025. “Progress against blood cancers has led the revolution in precision cancer medicine and has been a trailblazer in the field of immunotherapy.… Largely because of the advances in precision cancer medicine, mortality rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the most common type of blood cancer in the United States, have declined by 43% between 1991 and 2023.”

In the 12 months covered in the report (from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025), as mentioned, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 20 new cancer therapeutics, including these 3 to treat several types of blood cancers:

• Revumenib, the first menin-targeted therapy, for patients with relapsed or refractory acute leukemias harboring a lysine methyltransferase 2A gene translocation;
• Denileukin diftitox-cxdl, an interleukin-2 receptor–directed cytotoxin for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory stage I to III cutaneous T-cell lymphoma;
• Obecabtagene autoleucel, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T-cell immunotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Included among the FDA-approved therapies over the past year for solid tumors are the following:

• Afamitresgene autoleucel, a gene therapy indicated for patients with unresectable or metastatic MAGE-A4–positive synovial sarcoma;
• Zolbetuximab-clzb with chemotherapy for gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma;
• Vorasidenib, the first IDH-targeted drug for the treatment of grade 2 gliomas with IDH1 or IDH2 mutation;
• Datopotamab deruxtecan-dlnk, for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer and unresectable or metastatic, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

In addition, the FDA also approved new indications for eight previously approved cancer therapies, including:

• Optune Lua, a portable tumor treating fields device that disrupts lung cancer cell division;
• Guardant Health Shield liquid biopsy test and Cologuard Plus, a next-generation multitarget stool DNA test, both for colorectal cancer screening;
• Teal Wand, the first at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening;
• Several AI-powered devices and software tools to aid in cancer risk prediction, detection, diagnosis, and prognosis.

Unrelenting Toll of Cancer on Patients

Although significant progress against cancer over the past 3 decades has resulted in an overall decrease in cancer mortality by 34%, averting more than 4.5 million deaths from the disease, the report also details the ongoing human toll of cancer, including the expectation of two million new cancer diagnoses this year and more than 618,000 cancer-related deaths, as well as the continuing rise of early-onset cancers in young adults. Although the increasing incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer—on average rising 5% per year between 2018 and 2022—has garnered the most attention, the report finds that between 2010 and 2019, 13 other cancer types have also increased in individuals aged 49 and younger (melanoma; three types of lymphoma; multiple myeloma; and cancers of the cervix, breast, pancreas, stomach, testicles, kidneys, uterus, bones, and joints).

Why these cancers are developing in younger adults is the subject of intense ongoing research. Potential emerging contributors for early-onset colorectal cancer include obesity, the significant accumulation of microplastics in the bodies of Generation X individuals, and certain strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli.

And although the overall incidence of cancer in the United States has stabilized, certain cancers are increasing in the adult population, including pancreatic, liver, and uterine cancers, as well as human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oral cancers and lung cancer in never-smokers.

Disproportionate Burden of Cancer on Minority Patients

In addition to highlighting the progress the country has made against cancer, the AACRCancer Progress Report 2025 also details the significant cancer disparities that persist among racial and minority groups as well as other medically underserved populations in the United States, who continue to bear a disproportionate burden of cancer. Here are some additional findings from the report:

• Non-Hispanic White individuals have the highest overall cancer incidence rate, but non-Hispanic Black individuals have the highest overall cancer mortality rate, followed by American Indian/Alaska Native individuals;
• Between 2015 and 2021, patients with cancer from all racial and ethnic minority groups had lower 5-year relative survival rates (61.7%–68.4%) than non-Hispanic White individuals (70.8%);
• Black pediatric patients with cancer have a 28% increased risk of death compared with White pediatric patients with cancer;
• Lesbian women have a nearly twofold higher incidence rate of thyroid cancer, basal cell carcinoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma compared with heterosexual women;
• Geographic areas in the United States with higher proportions of families living two times below the federal poverty level have a higher burden of cervical cancer;
• From 2017 to 2021, residents of Appalachia had a 5.6% and 12.8% higher incidence and mortality rate, respectively, from all cancers combined than non-Appalachian residents.

A Call to Action

Many of the breakthroughs in cancer research that have led to improved survival outcomes cited in the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025 are the direct result of more than 50 years of bipartisan investment in medical research at the NIH. Listed here are other relevant report findings:

• From 1975 to 2020, prevention and screening efforts supported by federal funding have averted 4.75 million deaths across five major cancer types (breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers);
• Over the past 40 years, patients with cancer in the United States have gained 14 million years of additional life as a result of federally funded clinical trials;
• NIH-funded research contributed to 354 of the 356 drugs approved by the FDA between 2010 and 2019.

In response to the current dismantling underway of the U.S. cancer research system, which took decades to build, has saved millions of lives, and contributes to the American economy—every $1 in NIH funding returns $2.56 in economic activity, according to the report—the AACR is urging Congress to take immediate action to:

• Provide no less than $51.3 billion for the NIH and $7.9 for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in fiscal year 2026 to sustain the scientific workforce and power new breakthroughs against cancer and other life-threatening diseases;
• Support the federal research infrastructure to repair the damage caused by mass reductions in the scientific workforce, frozen contracts, and suspended peer review;
• Protect public health programs that prevent cancer to maintain cancer screenings, HPV vaccinations, tobacco cessation programs, and early interventions;
• Release delayed, frozen, and unobligated research funds to ensure that promising science is maintained and that patients have access to life-saving clinical trials;
• Support early-career and early-stage scientists and stabilize research careers to stop the exodus of postdoctoral researchers and junior investigators who are leaving careers in science or are being recruited by other countries;
• Defend the integrity of science by supporting the NIH peer review system, restoring safeguards that prevent research from political interference, and ensuring that public policies are guided by scientific evidence rather than ideology.

“For 15 years, the AACR Cancer Progress Report has been a testament to what bipartisan commitment to cancer research has made possible,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), Chief Executive Officer of the AACR, during a press conference announcing the publication of the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025. “It

Federal investments in cancer research are the reasons that today’s progress is possible and tomorrow’s breakthroughs are within reach.

— MARGARET FOTI, PhD, MD (hc)

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has captured the extraordinary advances of the past year showing those advances have changed lives and made clear why sustained momentum is imperative for the cancer patients still waiting for cures. Federal investments in cancer research are the reasons that today’s progress is possible and tomorrow’s breakthroughs are within reach. If we sustain this commitment, the next 15 years will bring discoveries that we cannot even imagine and cures that we cannot yet see.”

Survey Finds Public Support for Federal Funding of Medical and Cancer Research

A national survey³ by the AACR of voters’ attitudes regarding federal funding for medical research has found that an overwhelming majority, 89%, support the federal government using taxpayer dollars to fund medical research. A total of 83% report support for increasing funding for cancer research, including 75% each of Independents, Republicans, and MAGA supporters and 93% of Democrats. The national survey of 1,001 registered voters by Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies was conducted online from August 16 to 30, 2025.

The survey results, which were published in conjunction with the release of the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025, also revealed the following:

• A total of 71% of voters believe that increasing federal funding for medical research should be a top congressional priority;
• A total of 71% of respondents had a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in cancer researchers, and 65% expressed a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the NCI;
• A total of 77% of respondents said they would feel more favorably toward their congressional representative if he or she voted to increase federal funding for cancer research over the next decade. 

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Siu and Dr. Foti reported no conflicts of interest.

REFERENCES

1. Jalali MS, Hasgul Z: Potential trade-offs of proposed cuts to the US National Institutes of Health. JAMA Health Forum 6:e252228, 2025.

2. AACR: AACR Cancer Progress Report 2025: Unifying cancer science and medicine: A continuum of innovation for impact. Available at https://cancerprogressreport.aacr.org/progress/. Accessed September 24, 2025.

3. AACR: New survey finds overwhelming public support for federal funding for medical and cancer research. September 17, 2025. Available at www.aacr.org/about-the-aacr/newsroom/news-releases/new-survey-finds-overwhelming-public-support-for-federal-funding-for-medical-and-cancer-research/. Accessed September 24, 2025.