Cancer Statistics

"Common cancer types include cancers diagnosed with the greatest frequency in the United States, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. Bladder cancer is most commonly transitional cell carcinoma, also called urothelial carcinoma, and smoking is a major risk factor. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women after skin cancer, and mammograms can detect it early, possibly before it has spread. Colorectal cancer often begins as a growth called a polyp inside the colon or rectum, and finding and removing polyps can prevent colorectal cancer. Uterine cancers can be endometrial cancer, which is common, or uterine sarcoma, which is rare. Endometrial cancer can often be cured, while uterine sarcoma is often more aggressive and harder to treat. Kidney cancer can develop in adults and children. The main types are renal cell cancer, transitional cell cancer, and Wilms tumor. Certain inherited conditions increase the risk of kidney cancer. Leukemia is a broad term for cancers of the blood cells. The type depends on the type of blood cell that becomes cancer and whether it grows quickly or slowly. Leukemia occurs most often in adults older than 55, but it is also the most common cancer in children younger than 15. Lung cancer includes non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. Smoking causes most lung cancers, but nonsmokers can also develop lung cancer. The main types of skin cancer are squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Melanoma is much less common than the other types but much more likely to invade nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body. Most deaths from skin cancer are caused by melanoma. Lymphoma is a broad term for cancer that begins in cells of the lymph system. The two main types are Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Pancreatic cancer can develop from exocrine cells or neuroendocrine cells, such as islet cells. The exocrine type is more common and is usually found at an advanced stage. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are less common but have a better prognosis. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States. It usually grows very slowly, and finding and treating it before symptoms occur may not improve men's health or help them live longer. Thyroid cancer has four main types that vary in aggressiveness. Anaplastic thyroid cancer is hard to cure with current treatments, whereas papillary, follicular, and medullary thyroid cancer can usually be cured. Cancer incidence and mortality statistics reported by the American Cancer Society and other resources were used to create the list. To qualify as a common cancer, the estimated annual incidence for 2016 had to be 40,000 cases or more. The most common type of cancer on the list is breast cancer, with more than 249,000 new cases expected in the United States in 2016. The next most common cancers are lung cancer and prostate cancer. Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as colorectal cancers, these two cancer types are combined for the list. For 2016, the estimated number of new cases of colon cancer and rectal cancer were 95,270 and 39,220, respectively, adding to a total of 134,490 new cases of colorectal cancer. Estimated new cases and deaths were: bladder, 76,960 new cases and 16,390 deaths; female breast, 246,660 new cases and 40,450 deaths; male breast, 2,600 new cases and 440 deaths; colon and rectal combined, 134,490 new cases and 49,190 deaths; endometrial, 60,050 new cases and 10,470 deaths; kidney, including renal cell and renal pelvis cancer, 62,700 new cases and 14,240 deaths; leukemia, all types, 60,140 new cases and 24,400 deaths; lung, including bronchus, 224,390 new cases and 158,080 deaths; melanoma, 76,380 new cases and 10,130 deaths; non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 72,580 new cases and 20,150 deaths; pancreatic, 53,070 new cases and 41,780 deaths; prostate, 180,890 new cases and 26,120 deaths; and thyroid, 64,300 new cases and 1,980 deaths."