I saw a Meta post earlier today claiming that the $200 billion dollars per year spent on cancer research has accomplished nothing, and that there has been a 75% increase in cancer deaths since 1990.

That claim is highly misleading

It is true that a recent Lancet‑linked analysis reports that global cancer deaths rose from around 6 million in 1990 to about 10.4 million in 2023, an increase of roughly 74% in absolute deaths over that period.

But the world’s population has increased by about 2.9 billion people since 1990, rising from roughly 5.33 billion to about 8.23 billion in 2025.

In addition, cancer deaths are strongly correlated with age. Average life-span around the world over the same period has increased from about 66 to about 74 years. People are living six years longer than in 1990.

Also, diagnostic techniques have massively improved, so cancer is being recognised more often and earlier.

Cancer research means fewer deaths and longer survival from almost all forms of cancer

In reality, cancer treatments have become substantially more effective since 1990, with overall 5-year survival rates roughly doubling from around 34% to 67-73% in recent years. Cancer mortality rates have also declined by about 30% since 1991, largely due to targeted therapies, immunotherapy, and better screening.

Immunotherapy and precision medicine continue to drive strong gains, especially for lung, melanoma, and blood cancers.

In summary, while cancer rates have increased slightly over the 30 years, mainly because of better and earlier diagnosis, and longer life spans, dramatically improved treatments mean that age correlated death rates from cancer are lower than ever, and continue to fall.