Cancer diagnosis statistics show the scale of cancer care in the United States and worldwide. The figures below cover projected diagnoses and deaths, diagnosed populations, age and demographic patterns, major cancer types, and the relationship between stage at diagnosis and survival. Estimates and projections are identified by their measurement year.
On this page
- U.S. cancer diagnosis snapshot
- Age and demographic patterns
- Global cancer burden
- Cancer types with the most diagnoses
- U.S. cancer types in 2026
- Stage and survival statistics
U.S. cancer diagnosis snapshot
The SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Cancer of Any Site projects 2,114,850 new cancer cases in the United States in 2026. The same source projects 626,140 cancer deaths. These are estimates for 2026, rather than final counts of events already recorded.
The all-cancer age-adjusted incidence rate is 450.7 per 100,000 men and women per year. The age-adjusted death rate is 143.2 per 100,000 men and women per year. Age adjustment helps describe rates on a comparable population basis, while the projected case and death totals describe the expected number of events.
The SEER source reports a 39.2% lifetime risk of being diagnosed with cancer of any site. In 2023, an estimated 18,640,213 people were living with cancer of any site in the United States. The 5-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined is 70.5%. Survival is a population statistic and does not predict the outcome for a particular person.
The median age at diagnosis for cancer of any site is 67. The median age at death is 73. For caregivers, these measures help show why cancer support may involve older adults, spouses, adult children, or several generations within one family.
The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures 2025 projected 2,041,910 new U.S. cancer cases in 2025 and 618,120 cancer deaths. It projected 1,053,250 new cases among males and 988,660 among females, along with 323,900 deaths among males and 294,220 among females. These 2025 projections should be kept separate from the 2026 SEER projections because they refer to different years and reporting sources.
Age and demographic patterns
The SEER age distribution for new cancer cases is concentrated among older adults. People younger than 20 account for 0.9% of new cases. Ages 20 to 34 account for 2.7%, ages 35 to 44 for 4.9%, and ages 45 to 54 for 10.7%.
People ages 55 to 64 account for 22.9% of new cases. Ages 65 to 74 account for 30.8%, ages 75 to 84 for 19.9%, and people older than 84 for 7.3%. Together, the supplied age groups describe a cancer diagnosis burden that is heaviest among people in their later working years and older adulthood.
The all-races incidence rate is 488.3 per 100,000 for males and 426.2 per 100,000 for females. The corresponding all-races death rates are 168.3 per 100,000 for males and 124.7 per 100,000 for females.
The following rates are age-adjusted incidence and death rates reported by SEER for the named groups. They are not individual risk estimates.
| Group | Incidence rate, males | Incidence rate, females | Death rate, males | Death rate, females |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic Black | 539.7 | 411.5 | 198.6 | 141.1 |
| Non-Hispanic White | 522.3 | 454.9 | 175.2 | 129.8 |
| Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native | 454.9 | 440.1 | 175.8 | 139.5 |
| Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander | 309.8 | 327.0 | 104.2 | 81.6 |
| Hispanic | 379.4 | 368.3 | 121.9 | 92.3 |
These differences are relevant when families and care teams discuss access, diagnosis, treatment, and support needs. A rate for a population group does not explain the experience of an individual patient, and the table should not be used to estimate a person’s prognosis.
Global cancer burden
The GLOBOCAN 2022 World Fact Sheet estimated 19,976,499 new cancer cases worldwide in 2022 and 9,743,832 cancer deaths. It also estimated that 53,504,187 people were alive within five years of a cancer diagnosis in 2022.
The global age-standardized incidence rate was 196.9 per 100,000, and the global age-standardized mortality rate was 91.7 per 100,000. The cumulative risk of developing cancer before age 75 was 20.0%, while the cumulative risk of dying from cancer before age 75 was 9.6%.
Men accounted for 10,311,610 of the new cases in 2022, and women accounted for 9,664,889. Men accounted for 5,430,284 cancer deaths, compared with 4,313,548 among women. These figures describe the worldwide burden in 2022 and should not be compared directly with U.S. projections for 2025 or 2026 without considering the different geography, year, and measure.
The World Health Organization’s cancer fact sheet reports that approximately 400,000 children develop cancer each year worldwide. It also states that about 10% of cancers diagnosed globally in 2022 were attributed to carcinogenic infections. Cervical cancer was the most common cancer among women in 21 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, and HIV infection increases the risk of cervical cancer six-fold.
Cancer types with the most diagnoses
WHO reported the following estimated numbers of new cases worldwide in 2022: lung cancer, 2.5 million; breast cancer, 2.3 million; colorectal cancer, 1.9 million; prostate cancer, 1.5 million; non-melanoma skin cancer, 1.2 million; and stomach cancer, 1.0 million.
For deaths in 2022, WHO reported 1.82 million from lung cancer, 904,000 from colorectal cancer, 760,000 from liver cancer, 666,000 from breast cancer, and 660,000 from stomach cancer. The diagnosis and death lists overlap, but they are not identical: a cancer type’s number of new diagnoses is a different measure from its number of deaths in the same year.
U.S. cancer types in 2026
The SEER Cancer Stat Facts source lists these 2026 U.S. estimates for new diagnoses:
| Cancer type | Estimated new cases |
|---|---|
| Prostate | 333,830 |
| Female breast | 321,910 |
| Lung and bronchus | 229,410 |
| Colorectal | 158,850 |
| Melanoma | 112,000 |
| Bladder | 84,530 |
| Kidney and renal pelvis | 80,450 |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 79,320 |
| Uterine | 68,270 |
| Leukemia | 67,790 |
The same SEER source estimates 626,140 cancer deaths overall in 2026. Among the listed cancer types, it estimates 124,990 lung and bronchus deaths, 55,230 colorectal deaths, 42,140 female breast cancer deaths, 23,910 leukemia deaths, 19,970 non-Hodgkin lymphoma deaths, 17,870 bladder cancer deaths, 15,160 kidney and renal pelvis cancer deaths, and 14,450 uterine cancer deaths.
These are projected totals for the United States in 2026. They describe expected population-level burden and cannot determine what will happen to a specific patient or caregiver.
Stage and survival statistics
Stage at diagnosis is closely connected with the survival statistics reported in Cancer Facts & Figures 2025. For colorectal cancer, the all-stage 5-year survival rate is 64%. The local-stage rate is 91%, while the distant-stage rate is 15%. The same source reports that only 1 in 3 colorectal cancer cases is diagnosed at a local stage.
For kidney and renal pelvis cancer, the all-stage 5-year survival rate is 78%. The local-stage rate is 93%, and the distant-stage rate is 18%. For pancreatic cancer, the all-stage 5-year survival rate is 13%.
| Cancer type | All-stage 5-year survival | Local-stage | Distant-stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorectal | 64% | 91% | 15% |
| Kidney and renal pelvis | 78% | 93% | 18% |
| Pancreatic | 13% | Not supplied | Not supplied |
These 5-year relative survival figures summarize outcomes for groups of patients; they are not a personal forecast. For caregivers, the statistics can provide context for why diagnosis timing, stage, treatment decisions, symptom management, transportation, appointment support, and communication with the care team may all matter during cancer care.
They can also help families frame questions for clinicians, understand why published estimates differ by cancer type, and recognize that a population average cannot replace individualized medical guidance.