An estimated 18.6 million people were living with a history of cancer in the United States as of 2023, according to the National Cancer Institute. That number includes people currently in treatment, those in remission, and long-term survivors. In 2024, the country crossed another threshold: for the first time, annual new cancer diagnoses were projected to exceed 2 million in a single year.
New Cases and Deaths Each Year
The 18.6 million figure represents everyone alive with a current or past cancer diagnosis. On top of that existing population, roughly 2 million new cases are now diagnosed annually. That works out to about 5,500 new diagnoses every day.
Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the U.S. An estimated 626,140 Americans will die from cancer in 2026. But the broader trend is encouraging: the cancer death rate has fallen 34% since its peak in 1991, a shift that has averted roughly 4.5 million deaths over three decades. Better screening, earlier detection, and more effective treatments all contribute to that decline.
The Most Common Cancer Types
A handful of cancer types account for a large share of all diagnoses. Breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer consistently rank as the most common. Skin cancers (particularly melanoma) and bladder cancer also appear near the top of annual incidence lists. Breast cancer alone accounts for roughly 300,000 new cases per year among women, while prostate cancer produces a similar volume among men.
Lung cancer, though not the most commonly diagnosed, kills more Americans than any other cancer type. It causes more deaths than breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers combined.
Survival Rates Have Improved Significantly
For patients diagnosed with cancer in 2017 (the most recent year with complete follow-up data), 72.5% survived at least five years. That’s a substantial improvement from earlier decades, when five-year survival hovered closer to 50%. The gains aren’t evenly distributed across cancer types. Some cancers, like thyroid and prostate, have five-year survival rates above 95%. Others, like pancreatic cancer, remain below 15%.
These survival improvements are a big reason the total number of people living with a cancer history keeps climbing. More people are being diagnosed, and more of them are surviving, which means the 18.6 million figure will likely continue to grow.
Age Is the Strongest Risk Factor
The median age at cancer diagnosis is 67, meaning half of all cases occur in people older than that and half in people younger. Cancer rates rise steeply with age: fewer than 26 per 100,000 people are diagnosed in age groups under 20, compared to more than 1,000 per 100,000 in age groups over 60. Only about 1% of all cancers are diagnosed in people under 20.
This age pattern is largely biological. The longer cells divide over a lifetime, the more opportunities mutations have to accumulate. An aging U.S. population is one reason total cancer diagnoses keep rising even as the rate of cancer per person holds relatively steady or declines for some types.
Racial Disparities in Cancer Outcomes
Cancer doesn’t affect all populations equally. Black Americans have the highest overall cancer death rate of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S. and a lower overall five-year survival rate than white Americans. The gaps are especially stark for certain cancers.
- Prostate cancer: Black men are more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as men of other racial or ethnic groups.
- Breast cancer: White women are diagnosed at slightly higher rates, but Black women are more likely to die from the disease.
- Lung cancer: Black men have the highest rates of both developing and dying from lung cancer.
- Cervical cancer: Black women die from cervical cancer at higher rates than white women.
These disparities reflect a combination of factors: differences in access to screening and early treatment, higher rates of aggressive cancer subtypes in some populations, and systemic barriers to timely care.
The Financial Toll
National spending on cancer care was estimated at $208.9 billion in 2020 (the most recent projection available), up from $190.2 billion in 2015. That 10% increase was driven entirely by population growth and aging, not by rising per-person costs. The actual per-patient financial burden can be severe. Out-of-pocket costs for cancer treatment frequently run into thousands of dollars annually, and many patients face lost income during treatment on top of direct medical expenses.
As the number of Americans living with cancer continues to grow, these costs will likely increase further, even if treatment becomes more efficient, simply because more people will need care.