Key Statistics for Pancreatic Cancer

How common is pancreatic cancer?

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for pancreatic cancer in the United States for 2020 are:

  • About 57,600 people (30,400 men and 27,200 women) will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
  • About 47,050 people (24,640 men and 22,410 women) will die of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer accounts for about 3% of all cancers in the US and about 7% of all cancer deaths.

It is slightly more common in men than in women.

Lifetime risk of pancreatic cancer

The average lifetime risk of pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 64. But each person’s chances of getting this cancer can be affected by certain risk factors.

For statistics related to survival, see Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rates by Stage.

Visit our Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.

The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team

Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.

American Cancer Society. Facts & Figures 2020. American Cancer Society. Atlanta, Ga. 2020.

Lifetime Risk (Percent) of Being Diagnosed with Cancer by Site and Race/Ethnicity: Both Sexes, 18 SEER Areas, 2013-2015 (Table 1.15) https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2015/results_merged/topic_lifetime_risk.pdf. Accessed on December 19, 2018.

Noone AM, Howlader N, Krapcho M, Miller D, Brest A, Yu M, Ruhl J, Tatalovich Z, Mariotto A, Lewis DR, Chen HS, Feuer EJ, Cronin KA (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2015, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2015/ based on November 2017 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, April 2018. Accessed on December 19, 2018.

References

American Cancer Society. Facts & Figures 2020. American Cancer Society. Atlanta, Ga. 2020.

Lifetime Risk (Percent) of Being Diagnosed with Cancer by Site and Race/Ethnicity: Both Sexes, 18 SEER Areas, 2013-2015 (Table 1.15) https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2015/results_merged/topic_lifetime_risk.pdf. Accessed on December 19, 2018.

Noone AM, Howlader N, Krapcho M, Miller D, Brest A, Yu M, Ruhl J, Tatalovich Z, Mariotto A, Lewis DR, Chen HS, Feuer EJ, Cronin KA (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2015, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2015/ based on November 2017 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, April 2018. Accessed on December 19, 2018.

Last Medical Review: February 11, 2019 Last Revised: January 8, 2020

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