The Cancer Paradox: Disease Recurrence Rises Alongside Survivorship

In 2025, more than 2 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States, with the number of cancer survivors expected to increase from approximately 18 million in 2020 to 26 million by 2040. [1][2] But of course, being a cancer survivor doesn’t end the cancer story. As many as 20-40% of patients treated with surgery for one of the four most common solid tumor cancers—breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate—experience recurrence.