Isn't some of that skewed though? Most of the people who fought and died in WW2 were 18-40 year old folks in the prime of their life, or minorities killed in atrocities. My guess, and correct me if it's wrong, but a lot of people who die from cancer are generally unwell in other ways, or more elderly. It's also that there's not just one "cancer" we have to fix, and we already spend quite a lot of resources on studying and treating cancer.