Cancer Stat Facts: Common Cancer Sites

At a Glance

Breast, lung and bronchus, prostate, and colorectal cancers account for almost 50% of all new cancer cases in the United States. Lung and bronchus, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancers are responsible for nearly 50% of all deaths.

How Many People Are Diagnosed with Cancer Each Year?

In 2024, roughly 2.0 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States. An estimated 310,720 women and 2,790 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer, which makes it the most common cancer diagnosis. Prostate cancer is the leading cancer diagnosis among men and the second most common diagnosis overall with 299,010 expected cases. Lung and bronchus cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosis with an estimated 234,580 new cases.

The top 12 most common cancer sites, shown below, will account for more than three quarters of all new cancer cases. For more cancer sites, see How Do Cancer Rates Compare?

How Many People Die of Cancer Each Year?

In 2024, an estimated 611,720 people will die of cancer in the United States. Lung and bronchus cancer is responsible for the most deaths with 125,070 people expected to die from this disease. That is nearly three times the 53,010 deaths due to colorectal cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer death. Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer, causing 51,750 deaths.

The eight deadliest cancer sites, shown below, will account for almost two-thirds of all expected cancer deaths. For more cancer sites, see How Do Cancer Rates Compare?

How Do Cancer Rates Compare?

For comparison purposes, new cases and deaths are generally expressed as a rate — the number per 100,000 in the total population. The rate of new cases is known as cancer incidence, and the death rate as mortality. Note that total population changes depending on what group you are looking at, so, for instance, the rate of new cases for females is the rate per 100,000 females in the U.S.

The table below gives the predicted number of new cases and deaths in 2024, the age-adjusted rate of new cases and deaths over the most recent five years of data, and the five-year relative survival rate, representing the percent surviving their cancer diagnosis 5-years after diagnosis.

You can sort on any column by clicking the header.

How Do the Most Common Cancers Compare by Race/Ethnicity?

The rate and type of cancer diagnosis varies significantly by race and ethnicity. The graph below shows the age-adjusted rate of new cases, by race and ethnicity, for the four most commonly diagnosed cancers.

Cancer death rates, or mortality rates, also vary significantly by race and ethnicity. The graph below shows the age-adjusted death rate, by race and ethnicity, for the five most deadly cancers.

What Are the Recent Trends in Rates of New Cancer Cases?

Between 2017 and 2021, the overall age-adjusted rate of new cancers remained stable among men and remained stable among women. During this period, eight of the 19 most common cancers in men and nine of the 21 most common cancers in women showed statistically significant decreases in new cases. For both men and women, lung and bronchus cancer showed the greatest decrease.

Trends In New Cases

What Are the Recent Trends in Cancer Death Rates?

Between 2018 and 2022, overall age-adjusted death rate decreased on average 1.9 percent per year for men and 1.3 percent for women. During this period, thirteen of the 19 most common cancers in men and twelve of the 21 most common cancers in women showed statistically significant decreases in death rates. Testicular cancer showed the greatest increase in death rates among men. Uterine cancer showed the greatest increase in death rates among women.

Trends In Death Rates

Additional Information

Average annual percent change (AAPC) is the year-to-year change averaged over a period of time, in this case, 5 years. Positive AAPC describes an increasing trend and a negative AAPC a decreasing one.

How Does Cancer Compare to Other Causes of Death?

Cancer caused 18.5% of all deaths in the United States in 2022. Deaths due to heart disease and cancer caused nearly half of all deaths in the United States. Cancer is the leading cause of death for those under 65 years of age.

What Are the U.S. Death Rates?

In the United States, heart disease death rates have decreased for people of all ages. In 1975, heart disease among those less than 65 caused 26% of deaths, compared to 16% in 2022. In those over 65, heart disease caused 44% of deaths in 1975, compared to 23% in 2022.

Neoplasms have slightly decreased for people of all ages. In 1975, neoplasms for those less than 65 accounted for 22% of deaths in the United States, compared to 18% in 2022. In those over 65, neoplasms caused 18% of deaths in 1975, compared to 19% in 2022.

More Information

Here are some resources for learning more about cancer surveillance:

• The SEER website provides information about the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.
• The State Cancer Profiles website provides dynamic views of cancer statistics for prioritizing cancer control efforts in the nation, states, and counties.
• The Know Your Chances website presents interactive risk charts to put probabilities (risk) of dying from cancer and other diseases in context.
• The Cancer Prevalence and Cost of Care Projections website shows data for cancer prevalence estimated and projected by tumor site through 2020.
• See Interactive Tools, Maps, & Graphs for more information about SEER's interactive tools.
• The American Cancer Society's Cancer Statistics Center website is a comprehensive interactive resource for learning about the cancer burden in the United States.
• The National Program of Cancer Registries provides information about from the CDC about the National Program of Cancer Registries.
• The CDC Cancer Data and Statistics page describes U.S. Cancer Statistics and lists tools and databases that present these data.
• The Cancer Surveillance Programs page on the American Cancer Society website provides information about cancer surveillance programs in the United States.

References

All statistics in this report are based on statistics from SEER and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. Most can be found within SEER*Explorer.

Estimates of new cases and deaths for 2024 are projections made by the American Cancer Society (ACS), based on earlier reported data.

Suggested Citation

All material in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.

SEER Cancer Statistics Factsheets: Common Cancer Sites. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/common.html