Advances in treatment have led to a sharp decline in the number of deaths from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the U.S. in recent years, according to a new study published August 12 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute (NCI) analyzed cancer diagnosis records compiled by NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry program and patients' death records to understand mortality rates.
Deaths from NSCLC decreased faster than the decrease in incidence for the cancer, according to the researchers. Among men, deaths from non-small cell lung cancer decreased 3.2% annually from 2006 to 2013 and 6.3% annually from 2013 to 2016. Meanwhile, incidence decreased 1.9% annually during 2001 to 2008 and 3.1% annually from 2008 to 2016. The findings were similar in women, according to the results.
The accelerating decline in mortality began in 2013, corresponding with the time when clinicians routinely began testing patients for genetic alterations targeted by newly approved drugs, according to the authors.
![Axial images from unenhanced calcium score cardiac CT (left) and curved planar reformation images from CT angiography (right) show that higher long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with greater coronary artery calcium and more obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Top row: Images in a 68-year-old male patient with higher 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (7.9 μg/m3 for particulate matter measuring ≤2.5 μm in diameter [PM2.5] and 17.4 parts per billion [ppb] for NO2) with extensive CAD (coronary artery calcium score [CACS] >1,000 and obstructive CAD [≥70% diameter stenosis]). Bottom row: Images in a 57-year-old female patient with lower 10-year mean ambient air pollution exposure (6.3 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and 4.6 ppb for NO2) with no CAD (CACS = 0 and no obstructive stenosis).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/06/hanneman.r6SMLzkezo.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
