- About 1.2 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year.
- More than 500,000 Americans will die from cancer this year.
- Cancer mortality rates have increased over the past 40 years primarily because of lung cancer deaths.
- Lung and prostate cancer are the top cancer killers for men in the
United States.
- Lung and breast cancer are the top cancer killers for women in the
United States.
- About 8,000 American children will be diagnosed with cancer this
year.
- Cancer is the chief cause of death in children who die from disease
between the ages of 1 and 14.
- About 90 percent of the 800,000 skin cancer cases diagnosed in the
United States are sun-related.
- Quitting smoking substantially decreases the risk of developing
lung and several other kinds of cancers.
- About 40 percent of patients diagnosed with cancer this year will
survive at least five years.
- In 1987, lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cancer
killer among women.
- More than 80 percent of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men
at least 65 years old.
- African-American men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer
in the world.
- In the United States, the District of Columbia has the highest
cancer mortality rate and Utah the lowest.
- Each year about 3,000 non-smoking adults die of lung cancer caused
by breathing second-hand smoke.
- Early detection, including self-examinations, increases the odds
for survival in many cancer patients.
- Cancer-related costs account for 10 percent of the total amount
spent on disease treatment in the United States.
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