Cancer was responsible for around *** deaths per 100,000 population in the United States in 2023. The death rate for cancer has steadily decreased since the 1990’s, but cancer still remains the second leading cause of death in the United States. The deadliest type of cancer for both men and women is cancer of the lung and bronchus which will account for an estimated ****** deaths among men alone in 2025. Probability of surviving Survival rates for cancer vary significantly depending on the type of cancer. The cancers with the highest rates of survival include cancers of the thyroid, prostate, and testis, with five-year survival rates as high as ** percent for thyroid cancer. The cancers with the lowest five-year survival rates include cancers of the pancreas, liver, and esophagus. Risk factors It is difficult to determine why one person develops cancer while another does not, but certain risk factors have been shown to increase a person’s chance of developing cancer. For example, cigarette smoking has been proven to increase the risk of developing various cancers. In fact, around ** percent of cancers of the lung, bronchus and trachea among adults aged 30 years and older can be attributed to cigarette smoking. Other modifiable risk factors for cancer include being obese, drinking alcohol, and sun exposure.

Heart disease is currently the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2022, COVID-19 was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for almost six percent of all deaths that year. The leading causes of death worldwide are similar to those in the United States. However, diarrheal diseases and neonatal conditions are major causes of death worldwide, but are not among the leading causes in the United States. Instead, accidents and chronic liver disease have a larger impact in the United States.

Racial differences

In the United States, there exist slight differences in leading causes of death depending on race and ethnicity. For example, assault, or homicide, accounts for around three percent of all deaths among the Black population but is not even among the leading causes of death for other races and ethnicities. However, heart disease and cancer are still the leading causes of death for all races and ethnicities.

Leading causes of death among men vs women

Similarly, there are also differences in the leading causes of death in the U.S. between men and women. For example, among men, intentional self-harm accounts for around two percent of all deaths but is not among the leading causes of death among women. On the other hand, influenza and pneumonia account for more deaths among women than men.

MMWR Surveillance Summary 66 (No. SS-1):1-8 found that nonmetropolitan areas have significant numbers of potentially excess deaths from the five leading causes of death. These figures accompany this report by presenting information on potentially excess deaths in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas at the state level. They also add additional years of data and options for selecting different age ranges and benchmarks. Potentially excess deaths are defined in MMWR Surveillance Summary 66(No. SS-1):1-8 as deaths that exceed the numbers that would be expected if the death rates of states with the lowest rates (benchmarks) occurred across all states. They are calculated by subtracting expected deaths for specific benchmarks from observed deaths. Not all potentially excess deaths can be prevented; some areas might have characteristics that predispose them to higher rates of death. However, many potentially excess deaths might represent deaths that could be prevented through improved public health programs that support healthier behaviors and neighborhoods or better access to health care services. Mortality data for U.S. residents come from the National Vital Statistics System. Estimates based on fewer than 10 observed deaths are not shown and shaded yellow on the map. Underlying cause of death is based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) Heart disease (I00-I09, I11, I13, and I20–I51) Cancer (C00–C97) Unintentional injury (V01–X59 and Y85–Y86) Chronic lower respiratory disease (J40–J47) Stroke (I60–I69) Locality (nonmetropolitan vs. metropolitan) is based on the Office of Management and Budget’s 2013 county-based classification scheme. Benchmarks are based on the three states with the lowest age and cause-specific mortality rates. Potentially excess deaths for each state are calculated by subtracting deaths at the benchmark rates (expected deaths) from observed deaths. Users can explore three benchmarks: “2010 Fixed” is a fixed benchmark based on the best performing States in 2010. “2005 Fixed” is a fixed benchmark based on the best performing States in 2005. “Floating” is based on the best performing States in each year so change from year to year. SOURCES CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov). REFERENCES Moy E, Garcia MC, Bastian B, Rossen LM, Ingram DD, Faul M, Massetti GM, Thomas CC, Hong Y, Yoon PW, Iademarco MF. Leading Causes of Death in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Areas – United States, 1999-2014. MMWR Surveillance Summary 2017; 66(No. SS-1):1-8. Garcia MC, Faul M, Massetti G, Thomas CC, Hong Y, Bauer UE, Iademarco MF. Reducing Potentially Excess Deaths from the Five Leading Causes of Death in the Rural United States. MMWR Surveillance Summary 2017; 66(No. SS-2):1–7.

The leading causes of death in the United States are by far cardiovascular diseases and cancer. However, the death rates from these diseases, as well as other leading causes of death, have decreased over the past few decades. The one major exception are deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease, which have increased significantly. Cardiovascular disease deaths Although cardiovascular diseases are currently the leading cause of death in the United States, the death rate of these diseases has dropped significantly. In the year 1950, there were around *** deaths per 100,000 population due to cardiovascular diseases. In the year 2022, this number was ***** per 100,000 population. Risk factors for heart disease include smoking, poor diet, diabetes, obesity, stress, family history, and age. Alzheimer’s disease deaths While the death rates for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lower respiratory diseases have all decreased, the death rate for Alzheimer’s disease has increased. In fact, from the year 2000 to 2021, the death rate from Alzheimer’s disease rose an astonishing *** percent. This increase is in part due to a growing aging population.

Death rate has been age-adjusted by the 2000 U.S. standard population. Single-year data are only available for Los Angeles County overall, Service Planning Areas, Supervisorial Districts, City of Los Angeles overall, and City of Los Angeles Council Districts.Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death in the US. People who smoke have the greatest risk of lung cancer, though lung cancer can also occur in people who have never smoked. Most cases are due to long-term tobacco smoking or exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. Cities and communities can take an active role in curbing tobacco use and reducing lung cancer by adopting policies to regulate tobacco retail; reducing exposure to secondhand smoke in outdoor public spaces, such as parks, restaurants, or in multi-unit housing; and improving access to tobacco cessation programs and other preventive services.For more information about the Community Health Profiles Data Initiative, please see the initiative homepage.

The leading causes of death in the United States have changed significantly from the year 1900 to the present. Leading causes of death in 1900, such as tuberculosis, gastrointestinal infections, and diphtheria have seen huge decreases in death rates and are no longer among the leading causes of death in the United States. However, other diseases such as heart disease and cancer have seen increased death rates. Vaccinations One major factor contributing to the decrease in death rates for many diseases since the year 1900 is the introduction of vaccinations. The decrease seen in the rates of death due to pneumonia and influenza is a prime example of this. In 1900, pneumonia and influenza were the leading causes of death, with around *** deaths per 100,000 population. However, in 2023 pneumonia and influenza were not even among the ten leading causes of death. Cancer One disease that has seen a large increase in death rates since 1900 is cancer. Cancer currently accounts for almost ** percent of all deaths in the United States, with death rates among men higher than those for women. The deadliest form of cancer for both men and women is cancer of the lung and bronchus. Some of the most common avoidable risk factors for cancer include smoking, drinking alcohol, sun exposure, and obesity.

Editor’s Choice

• Global Breast Cancer Market size is expected to be worth around USD 49.2 Bn by 2032 from USD 19.8 Bn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032.
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. In 2020, there were about 2.3 million new cases of breast cancer diagnosed globally.
• Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women. In 2020, it was responsible for approximately 685,000 deaths worldwide.
• The survival rate of breast cancer has improved over the years. In the United States, the overall five-year survival rate of breast cancer is around 90%.
• The American Cancer Society recommends annual mammograms starting at age 40 for women at average risk.
• Although rare, breast cancer also occurs in men. Less than 1% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in males.

(Source: WHO, American Cancer Society)

Rank, number of deaths, percentage of deaths, and age-specific mortality rates for the leading causes of death, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

Introduction

Breast Cancer Statistics: Breast cancer remains one of the most prevalent and concerning health challenges, mostly among women. It is the most common cancer diagnosed in women worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States. The impact of breast cancer is significant, with millions of new cases diagnosed each year and hundreds of thousands of deaths attributed to the disease.

This article will provide critical insights into the incidence, survival rates, mortality, and disparities across different demographics, including age, race, and ethnicity. Understanding the latest statistics on breast cancer is crucial for driving progress in reducing the incidence and mortality rates, improving survival outcomes, and ultimately, finding a cure.

Age-adjusted mortality rates for the contiguous United States in 2000–2005 were obtained from the Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research system of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2015). Age-adjusted mortality rates were weighted averages of the age-specific death rates, and they were used to account for different age structures among populations (Curtin and Klein 1995). The mortality rates for counties with < 10 deaths were suppressed by the CDC to protect privacy and to ensure data reliability; only counties with ≥ 10 deaths were included in the analyses. The underlying cause of mortality was specified using the World Health Organization’s International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th revision; ICD-10). In this study, we focused on the all-cause mortality rate (A00-R99) and on mortality rates from the three leading causes: heart disease (I00-I09, I11, I13, and I20-I51), cancer (C00-C97), and stroke (I60- I69) (Heron 2013). We excluded mortality due to external causes for all-cause mortality, as has been done in many previous studies (e.g., Pearce et al. 2010, 2011; Zanobetti and Schwartz 2009), because external causes of mortality are less likely to be related to environmental quality. We also focused on the contiguous United States because the numbers of counties with available cause-specific mortality rates were small in Hawaii and Alaska. County-level rates were available for 3,101 of the 3,109 counties in the contiguous United States (99.7%) for all-cause mortality; for 3,067 (98.6%) counties for heart disease mortality; for 3,057 (98.3%) counties for cancer mortality; and for 2,847 (91.6%) counties for stroke mortality. The EQI includes variables representing five environmental domains: air, water, land, built, and sociodemographic (2). The domain-specific indices include both beneficial and detrimental environmental factors. The air domain includes 87 variables representing criteria and hazardous air pollutants. The water domain includes 80 variables representing overall water quality, general water contamination, recreational water quality, drinking water quality, atmospheric deposition, drought, and chemical contamination. The land domain includes 26 variables representing agriculture, pesticides, contaminants, facilities, and radon. The built domain includes 14 variables representing roads, highway/road safety, public transit behavior, business environment, and subsidized housing environment. The sociodemographic environment includes 12 variables representing socioeconomics and crime. This dataset is not publicly accessible because: EPA cannot release personally identifiable information regarding living individuals, according to the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This dataset contains information about human research subjects. Because there is potential to identify individual participants and disclose personal information, either alone or in combination with other datasets, individual level data are not appropriate to post for public access. Restricted access may be granted to authorized persons by contacting the party listed. It can be accessed through the following means: Human health data are not available publicly. EQI data are available at: https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/NHEERL/EQI. Format: Data are stored as csv files. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Jian, Y., L. Messer, J. Jagai, K. Rappazzo, C. Gray, S. Grabich, and D. Lobdell. Associations between environmental quality and mortality in the contiguous United States 2000-2005. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, 125(3): 355-362, (2017).

In 2022, Utah had the lowest death rate from cancer among all U.S. states with around 116 deaths per 100,000 population. The states with the highest cancer death rates at that time were Mississippi, Kentucky and West Virginia. This statistic shows cancer death rates in the United States in 2022, by state.

Population based cancer incidence rates were abstracted from National Cancer Institute, State Cancer Profiles for all available counties in the United States for which data were available. This is a national county-level database of cancer data that are collected by state public health surveillance systems. All-site cancer is defined as any type of cancer that is captured in the state registry data, though non-melanoma skin cancer is not included. All-site age-adjusted cancer incidence rates were abstracted separately for males and females. County-level annual age-adjusted all-site cancer incidence rates for years 2006–2010 were available for 2687 of 3142 (85.5%) counties in the U.S. Counties for which there are fewer than 16 reported cases in a specific area-sex-race category are suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate estimates; this accounted for 14 counties in our study. Two states, Kansas and Virginia, do not provide data because of state legislation and regulations which prohibit the release of county level data to outside entities. Data from Michigan does not include cases diagnosed in other states because data exchange agreements prohibit the release of data to third parties. Finally, state data is not available for three states, Minnesota, Ohio, and Washington. The age-adjusted average annual incidence rate for all counties was 453.7 per 100,000 persons. We selected 2006–2010 as it is subsequent in time to the EQI exposure data which was constructed to represent the years 2000–2005. We also gathered data for the three leading causes of cancer for males (lung, prostate, and colorectal) and females (lung, breast, and colorectal). The EQI was used as an exposure metric as an indicator of cumulative environmental exposures at the county-level representing the period 2000 to 2005. A complete description of the datasets used in the EQI are provided in Lobdell et al. and methods used for index construction are described by Messer et al. The EQI was developed for the period 2000– 2005 because it was the time period for which the most recent data were available when index construction was initiated. The EQI includes variables representing each of the environmental domains. The air domain includes 87 variables representing criteria and hazardous air pollutants. The water domain includes 80 variables representing overall water quality, general water contamination, recreational water quality, drinking water quality, atmospheric deposition, drought, and chemical contamination. The land domain includes 26 variables representing agriculture, pesticides, contaminants, facilities, and radon. The built domain includes 14 variables representing roads, highway/road safety, public transit behavior, business environment, and subsidized housing environment. The sociodemographic environment includes 12 variables representing socioeconomics and crime. This dataset is not publicly accessible because: EPA cannot release personally identifiable information regarding living individuals, according to the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This dataset contains information about human research subjects. Because there is potential to identify individual participants and disclose personal information, either alone or in combination with other datasets, individual level data are not appropriate to post for public access. Restricted access may be granted to authorized persons by contacting the party listed. It can be accessed through the following means: Human health data are not available publicly. EQI data are available at: https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/NHEERL/EQI. Format: Data are stored as csv files. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Jagai, J., L. Messer, K. Rappazzo , C. Gray, S. Grabich , and D. Lobdell. County-level environmental quality and associations with cancer incidence#. Cancer. John Wiley & Sons Incorporated, New York, NY, USA, 123(15): 2901-2908, (2017).

BackgroundEarly-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) has an alarmingly increasing trend and arouses increasing attention. Causes of death in EOCRC population remain unclear.MethodsData of EOCRC patients (1975–2018) were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Distribution of death was calculated, and death risk of each cause was compared with the general population by calculating standard mortality ratios (SMRs) at different follow-up time. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were utilized to identify independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS).ResultsThe study included 36,013 patients, among whom 9,998 (27.7%) patients died of colorectal cancer (CRC) and 6,305 (17.5%) patients died of non-CRC causes. CRC death accounted for a high proportion of 74.8%–90.7% death cases within 10 years, while non-CRC death (especially cardiocerebrovascular disease death) was the major cause of death after 10 years. Non-cancer death had the highest SMR in EOCRC population within the first year after cancer diagnosis. Kidney disease [SMR = 2.10; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.65–2.64] and infection (SMR = 1.92; 95% CI, 1.48–2.46) were two high-risk causes of death. Age at diagnosis, race, sex, year of diagnosis, grade, SEER stage, and surgery were independent prognostic factors for OS.ConclusionMost of EOCRC patients died of CRC within 10-year follow-up, while most of patients died of non-CRC causes after 10 years. Within the first year after cancer diagnosis, patients had high non-CRC death risk compared to the general population. Our findings help to guide risk monitoring and management for US EOCRC patients.

Age-standardized incidence-based mortality rates, and annual percent changes in primary liver cancer rates, 1978–2018.

Latin Americans are highly heterogeneous regarding the type of Native American ancestry. Consideration of specific associations with common diseases may lead to substantial advances in unraveling of disease etiology and disease prevention.Here we investigate possible associations between the type of Native American ancestry and leading causes of death. After an aggregate-data study based on genome-wide genotype data from 1805 admixed Chileans and 639,789 deaths, we validate an identified association with gallbladder cancer relying on individual data from 64 gallbladder cancer patients, with and without a family history, and 170 healthy controls. Native American proportions were markedly underestimated when the two main types of Native American ancestry in Chile, originated from the Mapuche and Aymara indigenous peoples, were combined together. Consideration of the type of Native American ancestry was crucial to identify disease associations. Native American ancestry showed no association with gallbladder cancer mortality (P = 0.26). By contrast, each 1% increase in the Mapuche proportion represented a 3.7% increased mortality risk by gallbladder cancer (95%CI 3.1–4.3%, P = 6×10−27). Individual-data results and extensive sensitivity analyses confirmed the association between Mapuche ancestry and gallbladder cancer. Increasing Mapuche proportions were also associated with an increased mortality due to asthma and, interestingly, with a decreased mortality by diabetes. The mortality due to skin, bladder, larynx, bronchus and lung cancers increased with increasing Aymara proportions. Described methods should be considered in future studies on human population genetics and human health. Complementary individual-based studies are needed to apportion the genetic and non-genetic components of associations identified relying on aggregate-data.

SEER Limited-Use cancer incidence data with associated population data. Geographic areas available are county and SEER registry. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute collects and distributes high quality, comprehensive cancer data from a number of population-based cancer registries. Data include patient demographics, primary tumor site, morphology, stage at diagnosis, first course of treatment, and follow-up for vital status. The SEER Program is the only comprehensive source of population-based information in the United States that includes stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis and survival rates within each stage.

From 2018 to 2023, heart disease and cancer accounted for the highest share of deaths in the United States. In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death, accounting for around 12 percent of all deaths in 2021. However, by 2023, COVID-19 was responsible for only 1.6 percent of deaths, making it the tenth leading cause of death. This statistic shows the distribution of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States from 2018 to 2023.

This data set includes age-adjusted death rates as published by the Vital Statistics Administration, Maryland Department of Health for both Maryland and Howard County. The rates are adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population by the direct method and are calculated per 100,000 population. Single year age-adjusted rates are available for the five (5) leading causes of death in Howard County for 2020 - Heart Diseases, Malignant Neoplasms (Cancer), COVID-19, Cerebrovascular Diseases, and Accidents; and for selected leading causes of death for years 2021 to 2023.

In the United States, the leading causes of death among women are heart disease and cancer. Heart disease and cancer are similarly the leading causes of death among U.S. men. In 2022, heart disease accounted for **** percent of all deaths among women in the United States, while cancer accounted for **** percent of deaths. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death among both men and women in 2020 and 2021, and the fourth leading cause in 2022. Cancer among women in the U.S. The most common types of cancer among U.S. women are breast, lung and bronchus, and colon and rectum. In 2025, there were around ******* new breast cancer cases among women, compared to ******* new cases of lung and bronchus cancer. Although breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women in the United States, lung and bronchus cancer causes the highest number of cancer deaths. In 2025, around ****** women were expected to die from lung and bronchus cancer, compared to ****** from breast cancer. Breast cancer Although breast cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer among women, rates of death have decreased over the past few decades. This decrease is possibly due to early detection, progress in therapy, and increasing awareness of risk factors. In 2023, the death rate due to breast cancer was **** per 100,000 population, compared to a rate of **** per 100,000 in the year 1990. The state with the highest rate of deaths due to breast cancer is Oklahoma, while South Dakota had the lowest rates.

Heart disease and cancer remained the leading causes of death in the United States from 2018 to 2023. However, there have been slight changes in the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. from 2018 to 2023. Most notable is that COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death in 2020 and 2021, but by 2023 it was the tenth leading cause. This statistic shows the rates of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States from 2018 to 2023.