Cancer Fast Facts

The American Cancer Society expects 565,650 cancer deaths in 2008. 170,000 of these are expected to be as a result of tobacco use, and about one-third is expected to result from the effects of overweight or obesity, physical inactivity or poor nutrition.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that approximately 10.8 million Americans with a history of cancer were alive in January 2004.
About 1,437,180 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2008.
This year, about 565,650 Americans are expected to die of cancer, more than 1,500 people a day. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S., exceeded only by heart disease. In the U.S., cancer accounts for one of every four deaths.
The National Institutes of Health estimate overall costs of cancer in 2007 at $219.2 billion: $89.0 billion for direct medical costs (total of all health expenditures); $18.2 billion for indirect morbidity costs (cost of lost productivity due to illness); and $112.0 billion for indirect mortality costs (cost of lost productivity due to premature death).
According to the World Health Organization, over 40 percent of all cancers can be prevented.
The death rate for cancer among African American males is about 37 percent higher than among white males; for African American females, it is about 17 percent higher.

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This page last updated 10th Oct 2012

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