Cancer Prevention Overview (PDQ®)

The Burden of Cancer

Description of the Evidence

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The Burden of Cancer

In 2014, an estimated 1,665,540 people will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States, and an estimated 585,720 people will die of cancer.[1] Cancer incidence and mortality help to define the scope of the burden that cancer imposes on society, but these indicators do not fully characterize the impact that cancer has on cancer patients and their families. In addition to the physical morbidity caused by cancer, cancer is frequently associated with emotional distress and an overall reduction in quality of life.[2] Cancer has also been observed to be a financial stressor. In a population-based study in western Washington, 197,840 cancer patients were matched with an equal number of controls by age, sex, and zip code. Cancer patients were 2.6 times more likely to file for bankruptcy than the cancer-free controls (P < .05).[3]