After reviewing its 2015 goal, the American Cancer Society has set a new one for 2035: reducing cancer deaths from the 2015 level by 40 percent.
The society's 2015 goal was reducing cancer deaths from the 1990 level by 50 percent. The most recent evaluation shows that cancer deaths in the U.S. decreased 25 percent from 1990 to 2015.
Research shows that cancer deaths can be reduced further if interventions are implemented more broadly and equitably.
American Cancer Society researchers used a statistical model to arrive at the new 40 percent reduction by 2035 goal. Achieving this would result in 1.3 million fewer cancer deaths than would otherwise have occurred from 2020 through 2035, and 122,500 fewer deaths in 2035 alone.
The researchers also found that reducing the widespread presence of risk factors and improving adherence to evidence‐based screening guidelines by 2025 could result in a 33.5 percent reduction in cancer deaths by 2035.