There are more than 12 million cancer survivors living in the United States today. This number has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The number of survivors will grow as the population ages and progress against cancer continues.
INCIDENCE AND MORTALITY
- 1.4 million Americans are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year.
- 560,000 Americans are expected to die from cancer this year, or more than 1,500 per day.
- Nearly 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer during their lifetime.
Within the next decade, cancer is likely to replace heart disease as the leading cause of death in the U.S. It is already the biggest killer of those under the age of 85. - Today 65% of adults diagnosed with cancer will be alive five years after diagnosis, up from 50% in the 1970s.
- African-American men and women have the highest mortality rates for all cancer sites combined.
While dramatic survival improvements have been achieved in patients diagnosed with cancer at age 15 or younger and steady improvement has been made against a number of cancers common among those over age 40, little or no progress has been seen in the adolescent and young adult population. In fact, among those aged 25 to 35 years, survival has not improved in more than two decades.
CANCER COSTS AND INSURANCE COVERAGE
The overall cost for cancer last year was $206 billion, which includes $78 billion for medical bills, $18 billion for lost productivity from the illness, and $110 billion due to lost productivity from premature death.
17% of Americans younger than age 65 have no health insurance coverage and 24% of Americans age 65 or older only have Medicare.
