This list of common cancer types includes cancers that are diagnosed with the greatest frequency in the United States, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers:
Cancer incidence and mortality statistics reported by the American Cancer Society1 and other resources were used to create the list. To qualify as a common cancer for the list, the estimated annual incidence for 2012 had to be 40,000 cases or more.
The most common type of cancer on the list is prostate cancer, with more than 240,000 new cases expected in the United States in 2012. The cancer on the list with the lowest incidence is pancreatic cancer, with 43,920 new cases expected in 2012.
Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as “colorectal cancers,” these two cancer types are combined for the list. For 2012, the estimated number of new cases of colon cancer and rectal cancer are 103,170 and 40,290, respectively, adding to a total of 143,460 new cases of colorectal cancer.
Kidney cancers can be divided into two major groups, renal parenchyma cancers and renal pelvis cancers. Approximately 92 percent of kidney cancers develop in the renal parenchyma,2 and nearly all of these cancers are renal cell cancers. The estimated number of new cases of renal cell cancer for 2012 is 59,588.
Cancer prevention is action taken to lower the chance of getting cancer. By preventing cancer, the number of new cases of cancer in a group or population is lowered. Hopefully, this will lower the number of deaths caused by cancer.
Cancer is not a single disease but a group of related diseases. Many things in our genes, our lifestyle, and the environment around us may increase or decrease our risk of getting cancer.
Scientists are studying many different ways to help prevent cancer, including the following:
Tobacco use is strongly linked to an increased risk for many kinds of cancer. Smoking cigarettes is the leading cause of the following types of cancer:
Not smoking or quitting smoking lowers the risk of getting cancer and dying from cancer. Scientists believe that cigarette smoking causes about 30% of all cancer deaths in the United States.
See the following PDQ summaries for more information:
Certain viruses and bacteria are able to cause cancer. Viruses and other infection -causing agents cause more cases of cancer in the developing world (about 1 in 4 cases of cancer) than in developed nations (less than 1 in 10 cases of cancer).
Examples of cancer-causing viruses and bacteria include:
Two vaccines to prevent infection by cancer-causing agents have already been developed and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One is a vaccine to prevent infection with hepatitis B virus. The other protects against infection with strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that cause cervical cancer. Scientists continue to work on vaccines against infections that cause cancer.
See the following PDQ summaries for more information:
Being exposed to radiation is a known cause of cancer. There are two main types of radiation linked with an increased risk for cancer:
Scientists believe that ionizing radiation causes leukemia, thyroid cancer, and breast cancer in women. Ionizing radiation may also be linked to myeloma and cancers of the lung, stomach, colon, esophagus, bladder, and ovary. Being exposed to radiation from diagnostic x-rays increases the risk of cancer in patients and x-ray technicians.
The risk of cancer after being exposed to ionizing radiation from diagnostic x-rays is higher for younger age groups than for older age groups, and is higher for women than for men. The risk of cancer also increases with the number of diagnostic x-rays a patient is given and the radiation dose per x-ray.
See the following PDQ summaries for more information:
The foods that you eat on a regular basis make up your diet. Diet is being studied as a risk factor for cancer. It is hard to study the effects of diet on cancer because a person’s diet includes foods that may protect against cancer and foods that may increase the risk of cancer.
It is also hard for people who take part in the studies to keep track of what they eat over a long period of time. This may explain why studies have different results about how diet affects the risk of cancer.
Some studies show that fruits and nonstarchy vegetables may protect against cancers of the mouth, esophagus, and stomach. Fruits may also protect against lung cancer.
Some studies have shown that a diet high in fat, proteins, calories, and red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer, but other studies have not shown this.
It is not known if a diet low in fat and high in fiber, fruits, and vegetables lowers the risk of colorectal cancer.
See the following PDQ summaries for more information:
Studies have shown that drinking alcohol is linked to an increased risk of the following types of cancers:
Studies show that people who are physically active have a lower risk of certain cancers than those who are not. It is not known if physical activity itself is the reason for this.
Studies show a strong link between physical activity and a lower risk of colorectal cancer. Some studies show that physical activity protects against postmenopausal breast cancer and endometrial cancer.
See the following PDQ summaries for more information:
Studies show that obesity is linked to a higher risk of the following types of cancer:
Some studies show that obesity is also a risk factor for cancer of the gallbladder.
Studies do not show that losing weight lowers the risk of cancers that have been linked to obesity.
See the following PDQ summaries for more information:
Being exposed to chemicals and other substances in the environment has been linked to some cancers:
Studies have been done to see if pesticides and other pollutants increase the risk of cancer. The results of those studies have been unclear because other factors can change the results of the studies.
For more information, visit the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at www.cancer.gov.
