There are predicted to be approximately 1.96 million new cancer cases in 2023, with a projected 609,000 deaths, USA Facts reported.
USA Facts used data from the National Cancer Institute, CDC and National Institutes of Health to find cancer trends between 2000 and 2023.
Here are 10 things to know:
- Nearly 40% of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life.
- The median age for cancer diagnosis is 66 and the median age of death is 72.
- Between 2000 and 2019, the cancer incidence rate fell by 5.4% and the annual mortality rate dropped by 26.6%. In that same period, annual cancer cases increased by 36.5%, rising from 1.3 million to 1.8 million per year.
- The five-year relative survival rate for patients increased from 63.5% in 2000 to 68.4% in 2015.
- In 2023, breast, prostate and lung cancers accounted for the most common new cases and lung, colon and pancreatic cancers were responsible for the greatest share of deaths.
- Men have an incidence rate of 499.6 per 100,000, about 15.4% higher than the incidence rate in women — 433 cases per 100,000.
- Cancer death rates are higher for men at 173.1 per 100,000, compared to women — 125.9 per 100,000.
- A 2023 estimate found that prostate, lung and colon/rectal cancers comprised 50.8% of new cancer cases for men and 45.9% of cancer deaths. For women, breast, lung and colon/rectal cancers accounted for 54.6% of new cases and 50.1% of deaths.
- In 2019, white Americans had the highest incidence rate of new cancers at 493.4 cases per 100,000 people, compared to Black Americans (479.5 per 100,000). However, the cancer mortality rate among Black Americans was 13.6% higher than that of white Americans.
- Asian and Pacific Islander Americans had the lowest incidence and mortality rates in 2019.