Cancer is characterized as a disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably. Theses cells can invade and destroy other nearby tissue, and can spread throughout the bloodstream and to other parts of the body. Cancer can develop in almost any organ or tissue of the body, but certain types of cancer are more lethal than others.

• About 1.2 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year.
• Cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon represent about 50% of the United States cancer burden.
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer among United States women (182,800 diagnosed each year).
• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among United States men (180,800 diagnosed each year).
• Lung cancer is the second most common cancer among men and women in the United States (over 164,000 diagnosed each year; 89,500 cases in men and 74,600 cases in women).
• Colon cancer is the third most common cancer among men and women in the United States (over 93,000 diagnosed each year; 43,400 cases in man and 50,400 cases in women).
• After breast, lung, and colon cancer, the most common cancers among United States women are uterine cancer (36,100 diagnosed each year) and ovarian cancer (23,100 diagnosed each year).
• After prostate, lung, and colon cancer, the most common cancers among United States men are bladder cancer (38,300 diagnosed each year) and melanoma cancer (27,300 diagnosed each year).

• Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States .
• About 500,000 Americans die of cancer each year; totaling over 1,500 people a year.
• 1 in 4 deaths in the United States are from cancer.
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States , accounting for approximately 167,000 deaths each year (99,000 in men and 68,000 in women).
• Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States , accounting for approximately 48,000 deaths each year (23,100 in men and 24,600 in women).
• Breast cancer accounts for approximately 44,500 deaths each year.
• Prostate cancer accounts for approximately 37,000 deaths each year.

• More males have cancer than women.
• African Americans are more likely to develop cancer than persons of any other racial or ethnic group in the United States.
• African Americans are about 34% more likely to die of cancer than whites, and about two times more likely to die of cancer than Asians, American Indians, and Hispanics.
• African American women are more likely to die of breast and colon cancers than women of any other racial or ethnic group in the United States.
• African American women have approximately the same lung cancer death rate as white women.
• African American men have the highest death rates of colon and rectum, lung, and prostate cancers.
• Lung cancer death rates are approximately 40% higher among African American males than white males.