Before we get into the interesting facts about cancer, we need to first understand what is cancer exactly. Cancer is not just a single disease. It is actually a group of diseases that can be characterized by uncontrolled growth of non-normal cells that start to spread throughout the body. If it is not diagnosed and controlled it will often lead to death. Cancer can because by external factors as well as internal factors. Your environment may lead to certain types of cancers. Your genetics and immune system can also be a trigger for cancerous responses.
Cancers caused by external circumstances where pollutants can be prevented simply by avoiding those contagions. Cigarette smoke, tobacco, and even alcohol are some of those triggers.
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169,000 – The number of cancer deaths expected to be caused by tobacco use in 2009.
562,340 – Cancer deaths expected to occur in 2009 due to conditions of obesity, physical inactivity, and nutrition issues.
1,000,000 – number of skin cancers diagnosed in 2009 that could have been prevented by protection from the rays of the sun or other ultra violiet light (such as indoor tanning beds).
77 – The percent of all cancers that are diagnosed in people that are 55 years old and older.
1, 2, 3 – Men have about a 1 in 2 chance of developing some form of cancer. Women have a 1 in 3 chance.
23 – The number of times a male smoker is likely to get cancer over a non-smoking male.
5 – The percentage of all cancers that are strongly hereditary. Please note, most cancers do not result genetic inheritance, rather from genes that are inherited and have a tendency to be damaged from other internal factors were at external ones.
11,100,000 – the number of Americans that have had or have cancer and were alive in 2005.
1,479,350 – the number of new cancer cases that will be diagnosed in 2009.
562,340 — the number of Americans are expected to die of cancer (this calculates to be more than 1500 people every day).
2 — the ranks a cancer-causing diseases have in the deaths of people in the US. Cancer is second only to heart disease.
25 – the percentage of all deaths in the United States that were caused by cancer.
66 — the percentage five year survival rate for all cancers diagnosed between the years of 1996 and 2004. Please note, this is up from 50% in the mid-1970s.
228,100,000,000 — the overall cost in US dollars of cancer in the year 2008. $93,200,000,000 of that are direct medical costs incurred by individuals with cancer. $18,800,000,000 are the indirect costs due to lost productivity caused by the illness. $116,100,000,000 is the US dollar amount of lost productivity due to premature death.
These statistics were taken from the American Cancer Society.
