New findings from the American Cancer Society's annual report released Tuesday show for the first time that the five-year survival rate for all cancers has reached 70 percent, with the most notable survival gains occurring among people diagnosed with more fatal cancers such as myeloma (a blood cancer), liver cancer and lung cancer.

"Seven in 10 people now survive their cancer five years or more, up from only half in the mid-70s," Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at ACS and lead author of the report, said in a news release. "This stunning victory is largely the result of decades of cancer research that provided clinicians with the tools to treat the disease more effectively, turning many cancers from a death sentence into a chronic disease."