More people are living with cancer than dying of the disease each year, according to the latest American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Cancer Facts & Figures 2026 report — with a record 70% of people now surviving at least five years after a diagnosis. That’s 19 million American cancer survivors — many times more than the 626,140 people projected to die of cancer in the United States this year.
Earlier cancer detection methods are a key factor in those survival gains, but newer treatments and advances in combatting a handful of cancer types have also been game changers in cancer care.
“Advances are coming not just in better systemic therapies, but in less invasive surgical techniques, targeted delivery of chemotherapy to spare side effects and newer drugs beyond chemotherapies,” says Pashtoon Kasi, M.D., medical director of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at City of Hope® Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center in Irvine, California.
This article examines five major cancer advances in the war on cancer that are redefining care:
- A new pancreatic cancer drug
- DNA tests for colorectal cancer screening
- Artificial intelligence-driven personalized care
- Immunotherapies for leading cancer killers
- Next-generation cell therapies
If you or a loved one is concerned about possible signs or symptoms of cancer and would like an initial consultation or a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 877-460-4673.
A New Pancreatic Cancer Drug
One of the biggest advances of the year is a new drug , which is offering dramatic new hope to people with pancreatic cancer, among the deadliest forms of the disease.
Compared with traditional chemotherapy, a pill called daraxonrasib nearly doubled the survival of people with advanced pancreatic cancer, according to a recent clinical trial. Researchers found that half of patients on the new drug lived 13 months or longer after treatment, compared to less than seven months for those on chemo.
Though pancreatic cancer is relatively rare — about 60,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year — it's often discovered after the disease has already advanced, and only 3% of people with advanced cases are still alive five years later.
After researchers released their findings last spring, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an expanded access protocol (EAP) for daraxonrasib. This allows City of Hope Cancer Centers in California, Arizona, Chicago and Atlanta (among others) to provide the therapy to patients outside of a clinical trial while the drug is still under investigation before receiving full FDA approval.
The approval of daraxonrasib comes as screening advances for pancreatic cancer have improved, tripling the survival rate for the disease in recent years.
Barbara Andes was one of the first patients to receive the new drug at City of Hope. “Today I'm getting the pill that everybody has been talking about.”
“I'm thrilled, I'm absolutely thrilled,” says Andes, 88, who as diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer a year ago. “I can hardly wait to take that first pill.”
Dr. Kasi called the new drug a “breakthrough,” noting the study results were cheered by doctors when they were presented at a recent cancer conference.
“The unveiling of the results got two standing ovations at our main oncology meeting — that tells you how big of a deal this breakthrough is,” he says. “And the main message in my opinion is not just the fact that this is an important lifeline, and soon a new option for our patients with pancreas cancer, but it also opens the doors for other cancers driven by the RAS mutation for which this drug acts as lock/key targeted therapy.”
DNA Tests for Colorectal Screening
This year, the ACS updated its colorectal cancer screening guidelines, adding recommendations for a blood-based screening test taken in a doctor’s office, as well as a new at-home screening option, to check for hidden blood and molecular DNA markers in stool samples.
The new guidelines, published in a report in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, reflect advances in disease detection using these screening tools. The new recommendations reaffirm that average-risk adults should begin colorectal cancer screening at age 45 and continue through age 75 for those with a life expectancy greater than 10 years. Colonoscopy, used to visually examine the rectum and colon, remains the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening, but the updated guidelines expand patient options, including the tests listed below.
Cologuard®: This next generation-ng-mt-sDNA test is an updated version of the well-known at-home test that analyzes stool samples for specific DNA markers and hemoglobin.
ColoSense®: This mt-sRNA test is a new at-home multi-target test that analyzes stool samples for specific RNA markers and hemoglobin.
Both tests demonstrate high sensitivity for colorectal cancer and moderate sensitivity for advanced precancerous lesions and are recommended for screening every three years.
The new guidelines also recommend a blood-based test, Shield®, for individuals who decline stool-based tests, but note that stool-based tests are more effective at detecting advanced precancerous lesions and Stage 1 cancers, which may affect colorectal cancer incidence and mortality.
The ACS adds that colorectal cancer screening dramatically improves survival, with studies showing early-stage detection yielding five-year survival rates of more than 90% in the United States. Despite the benefits, more than 20 million Americans who are eligible for colorectal cancer screening haven’t been tested as recommended — about 1 in 3 adults — with recent ACS research showing colorectal cancer is now the top cancer killer of adults under the age of 50.
Artificial Intelligence-Driven Personalized Care
AI (artificial intelligence) is moving beyond the hype, becoming an integrated and measurable driver of improved cancer care. AI has the ability to sift through complex genomic datasets to match patients with precise, tailored cancer treatments by zeroing in on their unique tumor signatures — and identifying the most effective gene-based drugs and treatments.
Leading cancer centers like City of Hope are advancing the future of cancer care by developing AI agents capable of independently uncovering meaningful insights from large clinical and genomic databases, accelerating breakthroughs in precision medicine. In addition, research into the effectiveness of AI-guided robotic systems is also underway, taking cancer to the next level to improve accuracy, reduce complications and shorten recovery time.
Immunotherapies for Leading Cancer Killers
Immunotherapies are revolutionizing care, improving survival curves and turning once-deadly advanced cancers — including metastatic melanoma, lung cancer, myeloma and liver cancer — into treatable, chronic conditions.
Immunotherapy plays a significant role in treating many cancer types. It works by harnessing the patient’s natural immune system defenses against cancer or by using laboratory-created components to boost the body’s ability to recognize and kill cancer cells.
Depending on the type and stage of a patient’s cancer and specific biomarkers, an oncologist may recommend using immunotherapy alone or in combination with other treatments. There are many forms of immunotherapy, including the primary types listed below.
Monoclonal antibodies: These are manmade clones of natural blood proteins the body produces to identify cancer and mount an immune response to target and destroy cancer cells. There are many kinds of monoclonal antibodies, each designed to bind with a specific protein to trigger an immune response.
Bispecific antibodies: These antibodies target two different antigens or two parts of an antigen at the same time. As a result, they have broader applications than monoclonal antibodies, which target only one antigen, and may act like a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies, allowing them to spawn several anti-tumor responses at the same time, potentially in a single treatment. More than 100 bispecific antibodies are in clinical trials, and more than 10 have been approved by the FDA.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors: These drugs are used to help the body’s immune system better recognize and destroy cancer cells by turning off and on checkpoint proteins, which are signals that control the body’s immune response. They may be used to treat various cancer types, including breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, bladder cancer and cervical cancer.
Oncolytic virus therapy: This type of cancer treatment, which is still in early stages of development, uses a genetically modified virus to improve the body’s ability to destroy cancer cells, without harming healthy cells. When injected into a tumor, the virus replicates, which breaks open the cancer tumor and destroys it. One type of virotherapy is currently approved for the treatment of advanced melanoma. Called T-VEC or Imlygic® (talimogene laherparepvec), it’s made from a modified version of the herpes simplex virus.
Cancer vaccines: Most vaccines work by exposing the body to a small amount of a bacteria, virus or germ that primes the body’s immune system to recognize and fight it the next time a person is exposed to it. Childhood vaccines and shots for influenza and COVID-19 work this way. Some vaccines even protect against viruses that may cause certain cancers, like HPV (human papillomavirus), which may cause vaginal, vulvar, anal and cervical cancers, and the hepatitis B vaccine, which may help protect against liver cancer. But unlike regular vaccines, cancer vaccines are used to treat cancer after diagnosis. The FDA has approved several cancer vaccines, including Provenge® (sipuleucel-T), used to advanced prostate cancer; Imlygic® (talimogene laherparepvec or T-VEC) for melanoma skin cancer; and BCG vaccine (TICE® BCG) for bladder cancer.
Gene therapy: This emerging form of therapy alters a patient’s genes to treat cancer by replacing or inactivating disease-causing genes or introducing new or modified genes. Types of gene therapy include plasmid DNA, viral vectors, bacterial vectors, human gene-editing technology and patient-derived cellular products.
Next-Generation Cell Therapies
Some newer types of immunotherapy — including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) therapy and natural killer (NK) cell therapy — are driving innovation in cancer care and being used to target a wider variety of solid tumors, including prostate and breast cancers. Each of these three works in different ways, as listed below.
CAR T cell therapy: This treatment takes white blood cells (including T cells) from the patient, enhances them in a laboratory then reintroduces them to the patient intravenously through an IV. The modified cells make a protein called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that enables them to identify, attach to and destroy cancer cells.
TIL therapy: This treatment uses immune cells from the patient’s tumor, which are tested in a laboratory then multiplied in large quantities and returned to the patient through an IV to attack and overpower the tumor. The massive increase in T cells helps stop the immune-suppression signals released from the tumor and kills the cancer cells.
NK cell therapy: NK cells are produced in the bone marrow and seek and destroy infected or cancerous cells throughout the body, while also regulating immune function. In NK therapy, the patient’s NK cells are removed, enhanced or multiplied in a laboratory and then returned through an IV in a vein.
City of Hope: A Leader in Cancer Breakthroughs
City of Hope has pioneered many of these advances through clinical trials and practice, while also tackling critical challenges in healthcare access, treatment and support.
“Our ability to open clinical trials through our unique national model, and to open them efficiently differentiates us,” says Dr. Kasi. “Our guidelines often say that the best management of a patient lies in a clinical trial. By offering access to these trials, we’re offering more promising options to our patients.”
If you or a loved one is concerned about possible signs or symptoms of cancer and would like an initial consultation or a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 877-460-4673.