Cancer awareness shapes the decisions people make before, during, and after a diagnosis. The figures below show persistent gaps in knowledge about preventable risks, screening, HPV, and the scale of cancer worldwide. They also show why accessible information matters to survivors, families, and caregivers.
Contents
- What Americans know about cancer risk
- Screening knowledge and misconceptions
- HPV awareness and cervical cancer prevention
- The global cancer burden
- Breast and cervical cancer worldwide
- U.S. cancer statistics and survivorship
- Cancer information and caregiver support
What Americans know about cancer risk
Awareness of smoking as a cancer risk is relatively high, but knowledge of the leading cause of cancer death is less consistent. The HINTS Brief 11 reports that 84% of Americans know smoking increases cancer risk, while only 28% know that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths. In some U.S. regions, just 20% of adults know lung cancer causes more deaths each year than breast, colon, or prostate cancer.
Regional differences are visible in the same brief. In high-knowledge regions, 96% of adults say smoking increases cancer risk a lot, compared with 79% in low-knowledge regions. Thirty-five percent in high-knowledge regions say lung cancer causes the most cancer deaths this year, compared with 21% in low-knowledge regions.
The HINTS Brief 2 found that 64% of Americans believe some cancers are preventable. When asked what reduces risk, 40.8% named never smoking or quitting smoking, 25.3% named eating a better diet, 4.5% named getting a check-up or going to the doctor, 3.5% named exercising more, and 2% named staying out of the sun or wearing sunscreen. Another 6.3% named a different action.
The same brief identified uncertainty and fatalism. Fifteen percent said nothing can reduce cancer risk, while 15.5% gave that answer when asked about specific ways to reduce risk. Fifty-four percent said there was nothing about their lifestyle they would change to reduce cancer risk, and 1% could not name any specific action.
Agreement with the statement that there is not much people can do to lower their chances of getting cancer varied: 5.97% strongly agreed, 20.99% somewhat agreed, 32.14% somewhat disagreed, and 32.83% strongly disagreed. Another 8.06% had no opinion. These responses matter for caregivers because conversations about risk often involve both practical choices and understandable uncertainty.
Screening knowledge and misconceptions
Awareness does not always translate into accurate screening knowledge. The HINTS Brief 3 reports that 43% answered correctly about the recommended age to begin breast cancer screening in HINTS 2005, while 57% of women did not know the recommended age to begin mammograms was 40. Among women aged 40 and older, 84% reported ever having had a mammogram, and 74% of those who had ever had one said their last mammogram was within the recommended interval. Seventy-five percent of women over age 35 said a provider recommended a mammogram within the last year.
Pap testing showed a different pattern. Ninety-three percent of female respondents reported ever having had a Pap test, but 79% of women were unaware of the guideline change recommending Pap testing every three years for healthy adult women. Eighty-seven percent said they have their Pap test as part of an annual exam, 85% expected their next Pap test within one year, and 67% would agree to screening every three years if their provider recommended it.
Colorectal screening knowledge also had gaps. Among respondents over age 45, 53% said a provider recommended colorectal cancer screening, but 40% could not name a colorectal cancer screening test. Fifty-four percent knew screening should start at age 50.
The HINTS Brief 36 measured beliefs about screening. Overall, 71.5% correctly knew screening tests cannot definitely tell that a person has cancer, and 91.6% correctly knew abnormal results need follow-up tests. Only 34.5% correctly knew that an abnormal screening result is not very likely to be cancer, and 19.7% correctly knew screening harms sometimes outweigh benefits. Just 5.6% answered all four statements correctly.
Mammography expectations were also uneven: 23% of women accurately perceived how much regular mammograms decrease the risk of dying from breast cancer, while 76% overestimated the benefits. Clear explanations from clinicians can help patients and caregivers understand what a screening result does—and does not—mean.
HPV awareness and cervical cancer prevention
HPV awareness has increased, but important misunderstandings remain. The HINTS Brief 26 reports that 68% of adults in 2013 had heard of HPV, and 68% had heard of the HPV vaccine. Before the vaccine was released, only 38% of women were familiar with HPV.
Among adults who had heard of HPV, 62% knew HPV causes cervical cancer, 34% were unsure, and 4% incorrectly thought it does not. Sixty-four percent knew HPV infections often go away without treatment, while 31% thought they do not usually go away and 5% were unsure.
The same source describes the scale and prevention opportunity: nearly 80 million people in the United States are infected with at least one HPV strain; HPV includes more than 150 related viruses; 40 types can spread easily through direct skin-to-skin contact; and about 12 high-risk types have been identified as cancer-causing. HPV types 16 and 18 account for 70% of cervical, vulvar, vaginal, anal, and penile cancers caused by HPV.
If HPV vaccination rates rose to 80%, an additional 53,000 future cervical cancer cases would be prevented among girls 12 and younger over their lifetimes. Infections from the four vaccine-targeted strains fell 56% among girls aged 15 to 19 from 2007 to 2010. Yet only one third of girls aged 13 to 17 had received all three recommended doses, and less than 7% of boys aged 13 to 17 were fully vaccinated in 2012. Eliminating missed opportunities during health care visits could have meant 93% of girls aged 13 to 17 received at least a first dose by 2012.
The global cancer burden
The NCI Cancer Statistics summary reports almost 20 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2022 and 9.7 million cancer-related deaths. The IARC global cancer burden report estimates that about 1 in 5 people develop cancer during their lifetimes, about 1 in 9 men die from cancer, and about 1 in 12 women die from cancer. In 2022, 53.5 million people were alive within five years after a cancer diagnosis.
The global burden is expected to grow. NCI projects 33 million new cancer cases per year by 2050 and 18.2 million cancer-related deaths. These are forecasts, not counts of events that have already occurred, and they underscore the future need for treatment, survivorship services, and caregiver support.
Cancer also affects families in the United States at a large scale. NCI estimates that 38.9% of U.S. men and women will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes. In 2025, an estimated 2,041,910 new cases and 618,120 deaths were expected in the United States. For men, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers were expected to account for 48% of new diagnoses; for women, breast, lung, and colorectal cancers were expected to account for 51%.
Breast and cervical cancer worldwide
The WHO Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2025 materials report approximately 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide in 2022 and another 670,000 women who died from it. Five-year survival exceeds 90% in high-income countries, compared with 66% in India and 40% in South Africa. If current trends continue, breast cancer incidence and mortality are projected to rise by 40% by 2050.
The WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative targets 60% of invasive breast cancers being diagnosed at stage I or II, diagnosis within 60 days of initial presentation, and 80% completion of recommended treatment. These targets connect awareness with timely care and practical support after diagnosis.
Cervical cancer shows stark geographic inequality. The IARC Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2024 figures report about 604,000 women diagnosed worldwide in 2020 and 342,000 deaths. Nearly 90% of cases and deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
In the WHO Western Pacific Region, 145,700 women were diagnosed and 74,900 died in 2020, according to the WHO Western Pacific cervical cancer fact sheet. The HPV vaccine is most effective when given to girls below age 15. WHO recommends cervical screening at age 35 and again at age 45. By 2030, countries should aim for 90% HPV vaccination coverage by age 15, 70% of women screened by ages 35 and 45, and 90% treatment coverage for women diagnosed with cervical cancer.
U.S. cancer statistics and survivorship
NCI reports a U.S. cancer incidence rate of 445.8 per 100,000 people per year and a mortality rate of 145.4 per 100,000. Mortality is 171.5 per 100,000 men and 126.3 per 100,000 women. The highest listed rate is among non-Hispanic Black men, at 203.6 per 100,000; the lowest is among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander women, at 83.1 per 100,000.
As of January 2022, the United States had an estimated 18.1 million cancer survivors. NCI projects that number will reach 26 million by 2040. In 2025, an estimated 14,690 U.S. children and adolescents ages 0 to 19 would be diagnosed with cancer, and 1,650 would die from cancer. U.S. cancer care expenditures were $208.9 billion in 2020.
Cancer information and caregiver support
People look for information at different points in the cancer experience. The HINTS Brief 10 reports that 63% of cancer survivors looked for cancer information, compared with 54% of people with a family history of cancer and 27% of people with no personal or family history.
Finding useful information was not always easy for survivors. During their last search, 44.6% were concerned about the quality of information, 30% said it took a lot of effort to find what they needed, 23% felt frustrated, and 24% thought the information was difficult to understand. These experiences affect caregivers too, who may need to interpret medical information while coordinating appointments, treatment, and daily support.
The same brief estimated 10.8 million cancer survivors in the United States in 2004, about 3.7% of the population. About 60% were age 65 or older, and about 14% had been diagnosed more than 20 years earlier. Information-seeking differed by age and education: survivors aged 35 to 49 were more than twice as likely as survivors aged 75 and older to have searched for cancer information, while those aged 50 to 64 were almost four times as likely. Survivors with a high school degree were over three times as likely as those who did not finish high school to have searched, and survivors with some college or a college degree were over six times as likely as those with less than a high school education.
For families, awareness therefore includes more than knowing a risk factor or screening interval. It also means finding understandable, trustworthy information across diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and long-term caregiving.