“Over the last 30 years, the risk of dying from cancer has steadily declined, sparing some 4 million lives in the United States. This downward trend can partially be explained by big wins in smoking cessation, early cancer detection, and treatment advancements.
Cancer incidence, however, is on the rise for many common cancers. In the coming year, we’re expecting to hit a bleak milestone—the first time new cases of cancer in the US are expected to cross the 2-million mark. That’s almost 5,500 cancer diagnoses a day.
This trend is largely affected by the aging and growth of the population and by a rise in diagnoses of 6 of the 10 most common cancers—breast, prostate, endometrial, pancreatic, kidney, and melanoma. (The other 4 top 10 cancers are lung, colon and rectum, bladder, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.)
In 2024, over 611,000 deaths from cancer are projected for the US. That’s more than 1,600 deaths from cancer each day.
Some types of cancer aren’t increasing in overall incidence but are increasing in subgroups. These include:
- Colorectal cancer in people younger than age 55
- Liver cancer in women
- Oral cancers associated with HPV
- Cervical cancer in women ages 30 through 44
The risk of developing 6 of the cancers on the rise is associated with excess body weight. Listed in order of strength of the association, those 6 cancers are endometrial, liver, kidney, pancreas, colorectal, and breast.”
The American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org/research/acs-research-news/facts-and-figures-2024.html)