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Key Statistics for Cancers in Young Adults
How common is cancer in young adults?
- About 80,000 young adults aged 20 to 39 are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. About 5% of all cancers are diagnosed in people in this age range.
- About 9,000 young adults die from cancer each year.
Cancer is the 4th leading cause of death in this age group, behind only accidents, suicide, and homicide. It’s the leading cause of death from disease among females in this age group, and is second only to heart disease among males.
Young women are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than young men, but young men and women are equally likely to die of cancer.
Survival rates for cancer in young adults
Survival rates for cancer in young adults have not changed much in recent decades, unlike the improvements seen in many cancers in children and older adults. Survival rates can vary a great deal, based on the type of cancer and other factors.
- 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 journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2020. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2020.
American Cancer Society. Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Facts & Figures 2019-2021. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2019.
Bleyer A. How NCCN guidelines can help young adults and older adolescents with cancer and the professionals who care for them. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2012;10:1065-1071.
Bleyer A, Ulrich C, Martin S. Young adults, cancer, health insurance, socioeconomic status, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Cancer. 2012;118(24):6018-6021.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. WISQARS Leading Causes of Death Reports, 1999 – 2017. Accessed at https://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcause.html on October 1, 2019.
Miller KD, Fidler-Benaoudia M, Keegan TH, et al. Cancer statistics for adolescents and young adults, 2020. CA Canc J Clin. 2020 Sep 17. doi: 10.3322/caac.21637. Online ahead of print.
National Cancer Institute. Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer. 2018. Accessed at www.cancer.gov/types/aya on September 30, 2019.
Last Revised: September 18, 2020
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.
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