What Are the 7 Most Common Cancers?

Symptoms of cancer vary depending on the specific cancer.

• Symptoms of breast cancer may include:
  • New lump in the breast (most common symptom)
  • A lump in the armpit 
  • A change in the size or the shape of the breast
  • Skin irritation or dimpling
  • Swelling of all or part of the breast
  • Redness, scaling, flaking, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
  • Breast pain
  • Nipple pain 
  • Nipple turning inward
  • Nipple discharge that is not breast milk
• Early-stage prostate cancer often causes no symptoms. As it progresses, symptoms of prostate cancer may include: 
  • Problems with urination
    • Frequent urge to urinate, especially at night
    • Slow or weak urinary stream 
  • Blood in urine or semen
  • Impotence (erectile dysfunction, or ED)
  • Numbness or weakness in the legs or feet
  • Loss of bladder or bowel control if cancer presses on the spinal cord
  • Pain in the hips, back (spine), chest (ribs), or other areas from cancer that spreads to bones
• Lung cancer may have no symptoms in the early stages. When symptoms of lung cancer occur, they may include:
  • Breathing problems
  • Shortness of breath
  • Persistent or worsening cough
  • Coughing up blood or rust-colored sputum
  • Chest pain that may be worse with deep breathing, coughing, or laughing
  • Hoarseness
  • Wheezing
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Loss of appetite
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Respiratory infections that don’t go away or come back
• Colorectal cancer might not cause early symptoms. When symptoms of colorectal cancer occur, they may include:
  • Changes in bowel habits that last more than a few days
    • Diarrhea
    • Constipation
    • Narrowing of the stool
  • A feeling of needing to have a bowel movement that's not relieved by having one
  • Rectal bleeding with bright red blood
  • Blood in the stool (stool may appear dark brown or black)
  • Abdominal cramping or pain
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness 
  • Unintended weight loss
• Symptoms of melanoma skin cancer include changes in skin lesions or moles, or the development of new moles that can be remembered by the ABCDE’s:
  • Asymmetry – Irregularly shaped, each half looks different
  • Border – Jagged, uneven, irregular edges
  • Color – Mole is several different colors
  • Diameter – Size greater than ¼ inch 
  • Evolution - Changes in size, shape, or color
  • Other symptoms of melanoma skin cancer may include
    • Bleeding 
    • Swelling
    • Redness
    • Crusting
    • Itching
    • Burning
• Symptoms of bladder cancer are often found early and may include: 
  • Blood in urine (hematuria): often the first sign
    • Urine may appear orange, pink, or, less often, dark red
  • Changes in bladder habits 
  • Urinary frequency
  • Feeling as if you need to go right away, even when the bladder isn't full
  • Pain or burning during urination
  • Bladder irritation
  • Difficulty urinating or having a weak urine stream
  • Urinating multiple times during the night (nocturia)
• Symptoms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma may include:
  • Tiredness (fatigue)
  • One or more large, swollen lymph nodes
  • Chills
  • Swollen abdomen
  • Feeling full after only a small amount of food
  • Easy bruising or bleeding
  • Shortness of breath
  • Cough
  • Chest pain or pressure
  • Severe or frequent infections

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports the deadliest cancers for 2020 in the U.S. were: 

• Lung cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Breast cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide, the most common causes of cancer death in 2020 were:

• Lung cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Liver cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Breast cancer

The survival rates vary widely for cancer depending on the specific cancer and how early it is diagnosed. 

Life expectancy for cancers is often expressed in five-year survival rates, that is, how many people will be alive 5 years after diagnosis. 

The five-year survival rate for breast cancer: 

• For localized breast cancer (cancer that has not spread outside the breast): 99%
• For regional breast cancer (cancer has spread outside the breast to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 86%.
• For distant breast cancer (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the bones, liver, or lungs): 29%

The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer: 

• For both localized prostate cancer (no sign that the cancer has spread outside the prostate), and regional prostate cancer (the cancer has spread outside the prostate to nearby structures or lymph nodes only): nearly 100%
• For distant prostate cancer (the cancer has metastasized to other organs such as the lungs, liver, or bones): 30%

The five-year survival rate for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC):

• Localized (there is no sign the cancer has spread outside the lung): 64%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the lung to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 37%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the brain, bones, liver, or the other lung): 8%

The five-year survival rate for small cell lung cancer (SCLC):

• Localized (there is no sign the cancer has spread outside the lung): 29%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the lung to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 18%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the brain, bones, liver, or the other lung): 3%

The five-year survival rate for colon cancer:

• Localized (there is no sign the cancer has spread outside the colon or rectum): 91%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the colon or rectum to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 72%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the liver, lungs, or distant lymph nodes): 14%

The five-year survival rate for rectal cancer:

• Localized (there is no sign the cancer has spread outside the colon or rectum): 90%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the colon or rectum to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 73%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the liver, lungs, or distant lymph nodes): 17%

The five-year survival rate for melanoma skin cancer:

• Localized (there is no sign the cancer has spread beyond the initial tumor): 99%
• Regional (cancer has spread to nearby structures and lymph nodes): 65%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, liver, or skin on other parts of the body): 25%

The five-year survival rate for bladder cancer:

• In situ (cancer is still confined to the cells in which it initially started and has not spread into any nearby tissue): 96%
• Localized (no sign the cancer has spread outside the bladder): 70%
• Regional (cancer has spread outside the bladder to nearby structures or lymph nodes): 36%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the lung, liver, or distant lymph nodes): 5%

The five-year survival rate for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: 

• Localized (cancer is limited to one lymph node area, one lymphoid organ, or one organ outside the lymph system): 73%
• Regional (cancer reaches from one lymph node area to a nearby organ, is found in two or more lymph node areas on the same side of the diaphragm, or is considered bulky disease): 72%
• Distant (cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, liver, or bone marrow, or to lymph node areas above and below the diaphragm): 55%

The five-year survival rate for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, follicular lymphoma:

• Localized is 96%
• Regional is 89%
• Distant is 85%