Cancer affects patients, families, and caregivers across the United States and around the world. For 2025, the National Cancer Institute estimates 2,041,910 new U.S. cancer cases and 618,120 cancer deaths. These estimates sit alongside reported counts from earlier years, long-term trends, survival measures, and projections for the number of people living with a cancer history.
This article brings those figures together for a practical view of oncology statistics. It distinguishes estimates and projections from reported counts, identifies the measurement period and geography, and keeps survival and survivorship statistics separate from incidence and mortality.
In this article
- U.S. cancer incidence and mortality
- Cancer trends and data coverage
- Cancer types with the largest projected U.S. burden
- Survival differences across cancer types
- Survivorship and caregiver support
- Global cancer statistics
U.S. cancer incidence and mortality
The National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Statistics estimates for 2025 put the expected U.S. cancer burden at 2,041,910 new cases and 618,120 deaths. These are estimates for the United States, not finalized counts. They describe the scale of cancer care that patients, families, and caregivers may encounter during that year.
The latest reported figures in the supplied U.S. Cancer Statistics data are different in both year and status. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,851,238 new cancer cases in the United States in 2022 and 613,349 cancer deaths in 2023. Because the years and methods differ, these reported counts should not be treated as a direct year-over-year comparison with the 2025 NCI estimates.
A population rate adds another perspective. The SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Cancer of Any Site reports a U.S. cancer incidence rate of 445.8 per 100,000 men and women per year. Its cancer death rate is 145.4 per 100,000 men and women per year, based on deaths from 2019–2023. The same 145.4 rate is also identified in the NCI Cancer Statistics figures as the U.S. cancer death rate for men and women per year based on 2019–2023 deaths.
| Measure | Figure | Geography and period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New cancer cases | 2,041,910 | U.S., estimated 2025 | NCI Cancer Statistics |
| Cancer deaths | 618,120 | U.S., estimated 2025 | NCI Cancer Statistics |
| New cancer cases | 1,851,238 | U.S., reported 2022 | CDC Cancer Data and Statistics |
| Cancer deaths | 613,349 | U.S., reported 2023 | CDC Cancer Data and Statistics |
| Incidence rate | 445.8 per 100,000 | U.S., men and women per year | SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Cancer of Any Site |
| Death rate | 145.4 per 100,000 | U.S., deaths in 2019–2023 | SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Cancer of Any Site |
For caregivers, these distinctions matter. A projected national total can describe expected demand, while a rate describes cancer in relation to the population. A reported count records events that have already been counted. Each measure answers a different question about oncology and should retain its date and geography when shared.
Cancer trends and data coverage
SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Cancer of Any Site reports that U.S. cancer incidence was stable over 2013–2022. During the later period from 2014–2023, U.S. cancer death rates fell by an average of 1.5% per year. “Stable” and “falling on average” summarize trends across a period; they do not mean that every cancer type, age group, or community experienced the same pattern.
The CDC’s U.S. Cancer Statistics provide data on more than 39 million new cancer cases and deaths. The CDC also reports 36.7 million new cancer cases in its U.S. Cancer Statistics data for 2003–2022. The public-use database covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These coverage details help explain why national cancer figures can support broad planning while still requiring attention to local circumstances.
The figures also come from different reporting frameworks. SEER Cancer Stat Facts supplies rates and trends for defined periods. CDC Cancer Data and Statistics supplies reported counts and a public-use database with broad geographic coverage. NCI Cancer Statistics supplies 2025 estimates. The source label and measurement period should remain attached to each number when it is used in caregiver education or service planning.
Cancer types with the largest projected U.S. burden
The 2025 SEER projections show substantial differences among cancer types. Lung and bronchus cancer is projected to account for 226,650 new U.S. cases and 124,730 deaths. Colorectal cancer is projected to account for 154,270 new cases and 52,900 deaths. Prostate cancer is projected to account for 313,780 new cases and 35,770 deaths.
Female breast cancer is projected to represent 15.5% of all new U.S. cancer cases in 2025 and to cause 42,170 deaths. Other projected totals include 104,960 new melanoma cases and 8,430 melanoma deaths, 84,870 new bladder cancer cases and 17,420 deaths, and 67,440 new pancreatic cancer cases and 51,980 deaths.
| Cancer type | Projected new U.S. cases in 2025 | Projected U.S. deaths in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Prostate | 313,780 | 35,770 |
| Lung and bronchus | 226,650 | 124,730 |
| Colorectal | 154,270 | 52,900 |
| Melanoma of the skin | 104,960 | 8,430 |
| Bladder | 84,870 | 17,420 |
| Pancreatic | 67,440 | 51,980 |
The projections also include 69,120 uterine cancer cases and 13,860 deaths; 44,020 thyroid cancer cases and 2,290 deaths; 13,360 cervical cancer cases and 4,320 deaths; and 8,720 Hodgkin lymphoma cases and 1,150 deaths. Kidney and renal pelvis cancer is projected to cause 15,160 U.S. deaths in 2025, although the supplied figure does not include its projected case total.
These totals are projections for 2025, not observed national counts. They can help describe the relative scale of different cancer diagnoses, but they do not predict an individual patient’s outcome or caregiving needs.
Survival differences across cancer types
Five-year relative survival rates vary markedly across the cancer types represented in the SEER Cancer Stat Facts figures. The rate is 98.4% for thyroid cancer, 94.7% for melanoma of the skin, and 91.7% for female breast cancer. Bladder cancer has a five-year relative survival rate of 79.0%, while uterine cancer is at 81.1% and colorectal cancer at 65.4%.
The supplied rate for cervical cancer is 68.0%. Lung and bronchus cancer has a five-year relative survival rate of 28.1%, and pancreatic cancer has a rate of 13.3%. These are population-level measures. They should not be read as a forecast for a particular person, because outcomes can vary with factors that are not represented in a single overall rate.
| Cancer type | Five-year relative survival |
|---|---|
| Thyroid | 98.4% |
| Melanoma of the skin | 94.7% |
| Female breast | 91.7% |
| Uterine | 81.1% |
| Bladder | 79.0% |
| Cervical | 68.0% |
| Colorectal | 65.4% |
| Lung and bronchus | 28.1% |
| Pancreatic | 13.3% |
Trend measures add context to these outcomes. The age-adjusted prostate cancer death rate fell by an average of 0.6% per year over 2014–2023. The age-adjusted lung and bronchus cancer death rate fell by an average of 4.1% per year over 2015–2024. By contrast, the age-adjusted melanoma incidence rate rose by an average of 1.1% per year over 2014–2023, while the pancreatic cancer incidence rate rose by an average of 0.9% per year over that period. Thyroid cancer incidence was stable over 2014–2023.
Survivorship and caregiver support
Cancer statistics also describe the population living after a diagnosis. The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Statistics 2025 reports about 18.6 million cancer survivors in the United States. As of January 1, 2025, about 1 in every 18 Americans was a cancer survivor. The same source projects that the U.S. cancer survivor population will exceed 22 million by 2035.
Breast cancer survivorship is a substantial part of that picture. About 4.3 million U.S. women were living with a history of breast cancer as of January 2025. The number is projected to reach about 5.3 million by 2035. These figures refer to people living with a history of cancer, not only those receiving active treatment.
For caregivers, survivorship statistics point to support needs that can continue beyond diagnosis and initial treatment. The numbers alone do not quantify hours of care, financial strain, emotional burden, or the proportion of survivors needing a particular service. They do show why caregiver support may remain relevant across treatment, recovery, long-term follow-up, and life after treatment.
Global cancer statistics
The global figures provide a wider context. GLOBOCAN 2022 reports 19,976,499 new cancer cases worldwide in 2022. The WHO Cancer Fact Sheet reports 9,743,832 cancer deaths worldwide in 2022. WHO also reports that about 10 million people died from cancer worldwide in 2020, or nearly 1 in 6 deaths. The 2020 and 2022 figures measure different years and should not be combined as one trend.
In GLOBOCAN 2022, lung cancer was the world’s most common cancer, with 2,480,675 new cases. Breast cancer was the second most common, with 2,296,840 new cases. Colorectal cancer accounted for 1,926,425 new cases, prostate cancer for 1,467,854, and stomach cancer for 968,784.
Five-year prevalence shows the number of people living with cancer diagnosed during the previous five years in a region. The GLOBOCAN 2022 All-Cancers Fact Sheet reports five-year prevalence of 8,799,565 cases in North America, 13,646,087 in Europe, and 23,429,909 in Asia. These are regional figures and are not directly comparable with the U.S. survivor totals above because the definitions, geography, and reporting scope differ.
WHO reports that nearly one quarter of cancer deaths were due to tobacco use, alcohol consumption, high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, and lack of physical activity combined. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, cancer-causing infections were responsible for approximately 30% of cancer cases. These are population-level findings from the WHO Cancer Fact Sheet; they do not assign a cause to an individual diagnosis.
For families and caregivers, the central message in these oncology statistics is the scale and variety of cancer experience. U.S. estimates, reported counts, rates, survival measures, survivor totals, and global figures each describe a different part of that experience. Keeping the source, geography, and measurement period visible makes the numbers more useful for understanding care needs and discussing support.