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A to Z List of Cancers

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Women's Cancers
Bladder Cancer     Melanoma
Breast Cancer     Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Colon and Rectal Cancer     Ovarian Cancer
Endometrial Cancer     Pancreatic Cancer
Kidney Cancer (Renal Cell)     Prostate Cancer
Leukemia     Skin (Non-melanoma)
Lung Cancer    

The list of common cancers includes cancers that are diagnosed with the greatest frequency in the United States. Cancer incidence statistics from the American Cancer Society1 and other resources were used to create the list. To qualify as a common cancer, the estimated annual incidence for 2004 had to be 25,000 cases or more.

The most common type of cancer on the list is non-melanoma skin cancer, with more than 1,000,000 new cases expected in the United States in 2004. Non-melanoma skin cancers represent about half of all cancers diagnosed in this country.

The cancer on the list with the lowest incidence is renal cell cancer of the kidney, with a projected incidence of over 25,000 cases in 2004. Approximately 70% of all kidney cancers are renal cell cancers.2

Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as "colorectal cancers," these two cancer types were combined on the list. For 2004, the estimated number of new cases of colon cancer is 106,370, and the estimated number of new cases of rectal cancer is 40,570.

Leukemia as a cancer type includes cases of acute lymphoblastic (or lymphoid) leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myelogenous (or myeloid) leukemia, and other leukemia types. More than 33,000 new cases of leukemia will be diagnosed in the United States in 2004, with acute myeloid leukemia being the most common type (approximately 12,000 new cases).

References

  1. American Cancer Society: Cancer Facts and Figures 2004. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society, 2004. Also available online. Last accessed May 18, 2004.
  2. McLaughlin JK, Lipworth L: Epidemiologic aspects of renal cell cancer. Seminars in Oncology 21(2):115-123, 2000. [PubMed Abstract]

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