How Much Do You Really Know About Cancer?

For men, the most common cancer is prostate cancer, with 137.7 cases per 100,000 people, and a predicted 239,000 new cases in 2013. In women, the most common cancer is breast cancer, with 123.1 cases per 100,000 Americans; it's expected that 232,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women in 2013.

By comparison, there are just 13.2 cases of thyroid cancer for every 100,000 of us (and 60,000 new cases expected in 2013, according to the National Cancer Institute).

As with most types of cancer, there are big differences among ethnicities: Black men are significantly more likely to develop prostate cancer, with 215 cases of the disease per 100,000 people. And for women of Asian or Pacific Islander background, their risk of breast cancer is considerably lower, at 85.9 cases per 100,000.

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According to CDC data, Connecticut has the highest incidence of cancer, with just over 509 cases per 100,000 Americans (this is for men and women, and for all types of cancer).

On the low end, Arizona has the lowest incidence of cancer cases, with 387.1 per 100,000.

The average rate in the U.S. is 459 cases per 100,000.

B — According to the American Cancer Society’s “Cancer Facts & Figures 2013” report, approximately 13.7 million Americans who have a history of cancer, or who had cancer and were undergoing treatment, were alive on Jan 1, 2012.

The report also notes that about 1.6 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2013 (though this figure excludes some types of cancer), and 580,000 Americans will die of cancer-related causes this year. Only heart disease is a bigger killer of Americans.

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D — If you stop smoking before you turn 50, your risk of dying by the age of 65 is cut by half, according to the American Cancer Society. Quitting will lower your risk of developing a whole range of cancers—lung, pancreatic, bladder, cervical, esophageal and more—dramatically.

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A: In 1975-77, the average survival rate for someone with cancer was 49%. As of 2008, that number had climbed to 68%, says the American Cancer Society.

(It’s worth emphasizing that survival rates depend a lot on what kind of cancer you have, as well as when it’s diagnosed, what risk factors you have, and how it’s treated. These are also five-year survival rates, so don’t take into account a recurrence.)

For some cancers the news is exceptionally good—five-year survival rates for breast cancer, according to 2002-2008 data, were 90%, for example. For melanoma it’s 93% and for prostate cancer it’s 100%.

For other types of the disease, the outlook is decidedly not so bright: Survival rates for esophageal cancer are just 19%, and for pancreatic cancer it’s just 6%. (This is for all races.)

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