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 determined by 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 count 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 count for 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

The numbers in the table below are prevalence counts from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Facts & Figures 2022-2024, 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, 2022.

A few facts about these survivors

• The majority of cancer survivors (69%) were diagnosed 5 or more years ago.
• 18% of cancer survivors were diagnosed 20 or more years ago.
• About two-thirds (67%) of cancer survivors are 65 years of age or older.