Cancer kills roughly 10 million people worldwide each year, making it the second leading cause of death globally behind heart disease. In the United States alone, an estimated 618,120 people will die from cancer in 2025, which works out to about 1,700 deaths every single day.
Global and U.S. Numbers
The World Health Organization estimated 20 million new cancer cases globally in 2022, with approximately 10 million deaths. That toll is expected to grow sharply. Over 35 million new cases are predicted by 2050, a 77% increase, and cancer mortality in low- and middle-income countries is projected to nearly double in that same timeframe. Population aging and rising exposure to risk factors like tobacco and processed food in developing nations are driving that surge.
In the United States, the picture is more stable but still staggering. The American Association for Cancer Research estimates 2,041,910 new cancer diagnoses and 618,120 cancer deaths in 2025. For 2026, the National Cancer Institute projects 626,140 deaths. Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease, and accounts for roughly one in every five deaths.
Which Cancers Kill the Most People
Lung cancer is by far the deadliest. In the U.S., it is expected to cause about 124,990 deaths in 2026, accounting for 20% of all cancer deaths. That’s nearly three times the toll of colorectal cancer, the second deadliest, which will claim an estimated 55,230 lives. Pancreatic cancer ranks third at 52,740 deaths, followed by breast cancer at 42,670.
Lung cancer’s outsized mortality reflects the fact that it is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, when treatment options are more limited. Pancreatic cancer, while less common, has one of the lowest survival rates of any major cancer because symptoms rarely appear until the disease has spread.
Death Rates Are Falling in the U.S.
Despite the large raw numbers, the overall cancer death rate in the United States has dropped significantly. Between 1991 and 2022, the cancer mortality rate declined by 34%, averting approximately 4.5 million deaths that would have occurred if rates had stayed at their peak. That decline is driven largely by fewer people smoking, earlier detection through screening programs, and better treatments for cancers like lung, breast, and colorectal.
The improvement, however, has not been evenly distributed. Some cancers, including pancreatic and liver, have seen slower progress. And certain demographic groups continue to bear a disproportionate burden.
Racial Disparities in Cancer Deaths
Black Americans have the highest overall cancer death rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States, along with a lower overall five-year survival rate compared to white Americans. The gaps are especially pronounced in specific cancers. Black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as men of other racial or ethnic groups. Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women, even though white women are diagnosed at higher rates. Black men also have the highest rates of developing and dying from lung cancer, and Black women are more likely to die from cervical cancer than white women.
These disparities reflect a combination of factors: unequal access to screening and early detection, differences in the quality of treatment received, higher rates of certain risk factors in some communities, and systemic barriers to healthcare.
How Many Cancer Deaths Are Preventable
A substantial share of cancer deaths are linked to modifiable risk factors. Roughly 16% of cancer deaths in U.S. adults are attributable to a combination of excess body weight, poor diet, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption. Tobacco use adds significantly on top of that, remaining the single largest preventable cause of cancer death worldwide.
Taken together, these lifestyle-related factors contribute to well over a third of all cancer deaths. Smoking alone is tied to cancers of the lung, throat, bladder, kidney, stomach, and several other organs. Excess weight raises the risk of at least 13 types of cancer, including colorectal, postmenopausal breast, and pancreatic. Even moderate alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, and breast.
None of this means that every cancer is preventable. Many cancers arise from genetic mutations, aging, or factors that are not yet well understood. But population-level reductions in smoking, obesity, and alcohol use would meaningfully lower the annual death toll.