Abstract: To explore the possibility of long-term survival of cancer patients, this paper describes a phenomenon based on the current status of cancer research in the United States. This phenomenon is that the 5-year survival rate of all cancers combined has been effectively improved since the 1970s with the development of various methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. This implies that cancer is no longer a highly-lethal disease due to the progress of cancer research and medical technologies in the future. It may be possible that cancer patients could survive for a long time.

Key words: cancer; 5-year survival rate; immunotherapy; long-term survival