Cancer Prevalence: How Many People Have Cancer?
What is cancer prevalence?
Cancer prevalence is defined as the number of living people who have ever been diagnosed with cancer. It includes people diagnosed with cancer in the past (whether or not they are still being treated) as well as those who were recently diagnosed. It does not include the number of people who may develop cancer in their lifetime.
Cancer prevalence is affected by both how often a cancer occurs (incidence) and by how long people normally live after diagnosis (survival). This means prevalence counts are highest for the most common cancers with the longest survival.
A common cancer with shorter survival may have a lower prevalence than a less common cancer with longer survival. For example, although lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States, the prevalence of lung cancer is lower than that for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a less common cancer. This is because people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma are more likely to survive longer than those with lung cancer, so there are more people living after a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma than after a diagnosis of lung cancer.
The numbers
As of January 1, 2025, about 18.6 million people were living in the United States with a history of cancer, and this number is projected to exceed 22 million by 2035.
The numbers in the table below are prevalence counts from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Statistics, 2025, a collaboration with the National Cancer Institute. These estimates do not include carcinoma in situ (non-invasive cancer) of any site except urinary bladder, nor do they include basal cell or squamous cell skin cancers.
Estimated numbers of survivors for the 10 most prevalent cancers among people in the United States as of January 1, 2025.
Males |
Females |
Prostate 3,552,460 |
Breast 4,305,570 |
Melanoma (skin) 816,580 |
Uterus (mostly endometrial) 945,540 |
Colon & rectum 729,550 |
Thyroid 859,890 |
Bladder 593,890 |
Melanoma (skin) 783,350 |
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 464,100 |
Colon & rectum 714,380 |
Kidney 450,440 |
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 415,180 |
Oral cavity (mouth) & pharynx (throat) 327,430 |
Lung 392,440 |
Testicles 317,930 |
Cervix 286,560 |
Leukemia 315,780 |
Kidney 284,090 |
Lung 288,010 |
Ovaries 244,600 |
All cancers 8,417,150 |
All cancers 10,199,840 |
A few facts about these survivors
- About one half (51%) of these survivors were diagnosed within the past 10 years.
- About 22% of cancer survivors were diagnosed 20 or more years ago.
- Nearly 80% of cancer survivors are 60 years of age or older.
- Written by
- References
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 editors and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Wagle NS, Nogueira L, Devasia TP, et al. Cancer treatment and survivorship statistics, 2025. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2025; 1-33. doi: 10.3322/caac.70011
Last Revised: May 30, 2025
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