Cancer progress assessed: new drugs, rising under-50 cases, staff shortages
An opinion piece by public health professor Devi Sridhar examines the current state of cancer treatment and outcomes, drawing on data from a single source. It reports that a new pancreatic cancer drug, daraxonrasib, doubled survival time in a 500-person trial with fewer side effects than chemotherapy. A separate vaccine, amivantamab, shrank tumors in over a third of head and neck cancer patients in a 102-person trial. The article notes that global cancer care faces a projected shortfall of 100 million workers by 2050, and that cancer rates in people under 50 rose 22% in the 25-29 age group in industrialized countries between 1990 and 2019. The author shares a personal story about her father’s death from leukemia and lymphoma in 2001, observing that survival rates for his subtype have since improved dramatically. The piece concludes that while a singular cure for all cancers is unlikely, continued investment in research offers reason for optimism.
What’s reported
Cancer causes nearly one in six deaths worldwide each year, about 10 million total.
A new pancreatic cancer drug called daraxonrasib, taken as a daily pill, doubled survival time in a 500-person trial with fewer side effects.
A new vaccine (amivantamab) for head and neck cancer shrank tumors in more than a third of patients in a 102-person trial.
One in three cancer cases are undiagnosed worldwide.
Nearly every hospital trust in England failed to meet the NHS 62-day treatment target; only 69% of patients started treatment within that window.
Cancer rates increased by 22% in people aged 25-29 in industrialized countries between 1990 and 2019.
A global shortfall of 100 million cancer care workers is projected by 2050.
The author’s father, an oncologist and lung cancer researcher, died of leukemia and lymphoma in 2001 at age 49.
Open questions
The specific cause of the rise in cancer among people under 50 is not definitively identified; evidence suggests factors such as ultraprocessed foods, rising obesity, alcohol, stress, and insomnia.
Whether the new drugs (daraxonrasib and amivantamab) will prove effective for other cancer types is still being studied.
Key figures
Devi Sridhar – chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, author of the opinion piece
The author’s father (unnamed) – oncologist and lung cancer researcher who died of leukemia and lymphoma in 2001
Harvard University researchers (unnamed) – argued that each later-born cohort has higher cancer risk
A longtime cancer researcher (unnamed) – reported crying upon reading the daraxonrasib trial results
Sources: The Guardian
