The changes in melanoma and lung cancer are mainly due to immunotherapy, which is a bona fide revolution in cancer treatment. It's almost embarrassingly simple,

The changes in melanoma and lung cancer are mainly due to immunotherapy, which is a bona fide revolution in cancer treatment. It's almost embarrassingly simple, just turn off one receptor ligand interaction (PD-1 and PD-L1) that suppresses anti-cancer immunity. Nobel prize was given for the discovery. Importantly it works in earlier stage and later stage disease, and the same drug works in multiple different cancers which is quite unique for a cancer treatment. There are definitely people walking around today who are alive only because they received this treatment. Seems that you can stop it after 2 years as well and it largely keeps working. These treatments cost about $100K - $150K per year. They don't work for everyone, or even the majority of people with melanoma and lung cancer. Generally they result in 15 - 20% of patients with otherwise fatal cancer having long term disease control, and some lesser percentage that are probably cured from the incurable. They require sepcialist multidisciplinary oncology care. There can be severe and permanent side effects, but these are almost aways preferable to being dead from cancer. It is important to note that these drugs do not work well or at all for the most common cancers with large shares of overall cancer mortality (Breast, Prostate and Colon), so this decline in mortality isn't going to automatically continue year over year. Also note that lung cancer is still the number one cause of cancer mortality, and this is due to smoking. So although we should celebrate great science and fancy expensive drugs, always remember that lung cancer is a disease caused by our failure to think clearly about corporate ethics and healthcare. Big tobacco is remarkably profitable and that is solely because we agree to pay in cash and lives for the negative externalities of their product.