common cancer types

This list of common cancer types includes cancers that are diagnosed with the greatest frequency in the United States, excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers:

Bladder Cancer		Lung Cancer
Breast Cancer		Melanoma
Colon and Rectal Cancer		Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Endometrial Cancer		Pancreatic Cancer
Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer		Prostate Cancer
Leukemia		Thyroid Cancer

Cancer incidence and mortality statistics reported by the American Cancer Society¹ and other resources were used to create the list. To qualify as a common cancer for the list, the estimated annual incidence for 2011 had to be 40,000 cases or more.

The most common type of cancer on the list is prostate cancer, with more than 240,000 new cases expected in the United States in 2011. The cancer on the list with the lowest incidence is pancreatic cancer, with 44,030 new cases expected in 2011. 

Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as "colorectal cancers," these two cancer types are combined for the list. For 2011, the estimated number of new cases of colon cancer and rectal cancer are 101,340 and 39,870, respectively, adding to a total of 141,210 new cases of colorectal cancer.

Kidney cancers can be divided into two major groups, renal parenchyma cancers and renal pelvis cancers. Approximately 92 percent of kidney cancers develop in the renal parenchyma,² and nearly all of these cancers are renal cell cancers. The estimated number of new cases of renal cell cancer for 2011 is 56,046.

The following table gives the estimated numbers of new cases and deaths for each common cancer type:

Cancer Type	Estimated New Cases	Estimated Deaths
Bladder	69,250	14,990
Breast (Female – Male)	230,480 – 2,140	39,520 – 450
Colon and Rectal (Combined)	141,210	49,380
Endometrial	46,470	8,120
Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer	56,046	12,070
Leukemia (All Types)	44,600	21,780
Lung (Including Bronchus)	221,130	156,940
Melanoma	70,230	8,790
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma	66,360	19,320
Pancreatic	44,030	37,660
Prostate	240,890	33,720
Thyroid	48,020	1,740