According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States after heart disease. Cancer has the ability to kill even when diagnosed early.

According to the World Health Organisation, the three cancers that killed the most people in 2020 were lung, colorectal and liver. Rebecca Siegel is a senior scientific director at the American Cancer Society.

Siegel said that the number of people who die from cancer depends on two factors: how many people have it and how many survive it. Those with the lowest survival for cancer are the most lethal.

The 5-year relative survival is a measure used by cancer researchers. This is the percentage of people who are expected to survive the effects of a given cancer for five years after being diagnosed.

The 10 deadliest cancers in the United States are based on the 5-year relative survival data.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN MEDICALLY REVIEWED BY

Dr. Rebecca Breslow

The tissues of the pancreas help digestion. Pancreatic cancer is the most lethal of the bunch, with less than half of patients surviving five years.

Exocrine cancer is a type of cancer that arises in the cells that make the GI tract. According to the American Cancer Society, islet cell tumors are the most common type of pancreatic cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, NETs make up 7% of Pancreatic Cancer.

Depending on how far the cancer has spread, doctors can treat it with surgery, radiation or Chemo. Targeted therapies are drugs that target specific cancer cells. Pancreatic cancer is predicted to kill 49,830 people in the U.S.

A radiotherapy center with magnetic resonance imaging in Madrid, Spain, allowing real-time diagnosis and treatment without affecting healthy tissue.

(Image credit: Getty)

Mesothelioma, 5-year relative survival: 12%

According to the American Cancer Society, the mesothelium is a layer of cells that line the inside of the body. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer. The pleura is where three out of four Mesotheliomas are found. There is a type of cancer.

The peritoneum, the tissue that lines the abdomen and surrounds many abdominal organs, is the most common type ofMesothelioma.

The tissues surrounding the heart and testicles are rarely affected by the disease. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to the mineral fiber can lead to cancer.

Treatment for the disease depends on how far it has progressed.

Gallbladder cancer, 5-year relative survival: 19.4%

Cancer starts in the gallbladder. The gallbladder is located underneath the liver and is used to store bile. The risk of developing gallbladder cancer is increased by the deposits of cholesterol and other materials in the gallbladder.

Treatments depend on how far the cancer has advanced when it is diagnosed. There are clinical trials for the treatment of gallbladder cancer.

Esophageal cancer, 5-year relative survival: 20.6%

The throat is connected to the stomach by a muscular tube. Older age, being male, smoking, drinking alcohol and having acid reflux are some of the risk factors for esophageal cancer.

Treatments depend on how far the cancer has advanced. Around 16,410 Americans are estimated to be killed by esophageal cancer in the year 2022, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer, 5-year relative survival: 20.8%

One of the most common types of cancer is the lysical cancer. Since the 1980s, the incidence of liver cancer in the U.S. has gone up more than any other cancer in the country.

Chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C infections are the most significant risk factor for the disease. Blood and semen are some of the fluids that transmit these infections. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C and the CDC recommends that all children bevaccinated.

Inhepatic bile duct cancer occurs in the ducts that carry bile from the gallbladder to the small intestine, where it helps digest fat from food. More than 30,000 Americans will die from bile duct cancer in the next five years, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The gallbladder is a small organ nestled next to the liver that produces bile, for aiding digestion.

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Lung and bronchial cancer, 5-year survival: 22.9%

In the U.S., lung and bronchial cancer is the leading cause of death. Smoking and use of tobacco products is the main cause. Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type and small cell lung cancer is more common. Smoking cessation is the best way to prepare for treatment.

Targeted therapies are used for non-small cell lung cancer. Around 130,180 lives will be claimed by lung and bronchial cancer in the year 2022, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Pleural cancer, 5-year survival: 22%

The space between the lungs and the chest is called the pleural cavity and can be used for cancer. Cases of pleural mesothelioma aren't included in the statistics of pleural cancer because they are included in the Mesothelioma category.

Mesotheliomas are not the only types of cancer. Many of the non-mesothelioma pleural cancers are "tissues of unknown histology," meaning that doctors don't know what they are. According to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, there are treatments for pleural cancer.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of lung cancer.

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Acute monocytic leukemia, 5-year relative survival: 24.8%

Acute monocytic leukemia is one of the types of leukemia. Laura Romundstad is a registered nurse who helps patients find clinical trials as a clinical trial nurse navigator with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

She said that monocytes are a major part of the innate immune system and that they recognize common features of pathogens and immediately attacks them.

Acute monocytic leukemia can be treated with a variety of therapies.

Brain cancer, 5-year relative survival: 32.5%

Brain tumors are very rare in adults. They spread there from other cancer. Brain cancers caused by cancers that originated elsewhere in the body are not included in brain cancer survival statistics because they are categorized according to their site of origin.

Lung cancer survival statistics can be affected by the case of a person who died of cancer that had spread to the brain.

The majority of brain tumors in children start in the brain. Exposure of the head to radiation is the only risk factor for brain tumors. During treatment for some other cancer, radiation exposure can occur.

Treatment for brain tumors depends on the type of tumor and how much the cancer has grown by the time it's diagnosed. According to the National Cancer Institute, brain and other nervous system cancers are predicted to cause 18,700 deaths in the United States in the year 2022.

Acute myeloid leukemia, 5-year relative survival: 30.5%

Stem cells in the bone marrow differentiate into different blood cell types. Blood cell development is stopped and the cells become cancer. Romundstad said that leukemias are classified by the stage at which blood cells start to grow.

The term acute myeloid leukemia refers to any cancer that develops in myeloid cells, which are blood cells that have the potential to become red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Stem cells get stuck at an immature stage and are referred to as "blast cells" in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. There aren't many blast cells in healthy blood. Acute Myeloid Leukemia is caused by having too many blast cells and too few healthy cells.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia is more common in adults than in children. Doctors don't know what causes it and exposure to the chemical benzene increases the risk of getting it. Chemo, a stem cell transplant or targeted therapies are possible treatment approaches. The lives of 11,540 Americans are predicted to be lost in the year 2022, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Why is there no cure?

According to the most recent summary of the state of cancer by the American Cancer Society, the number of people killed by cancer every year rose steadily to its peak in 1991.

The authors attribute the decrease in cancer death rates to a number of factors. The lead author of the study said that they have made a lot of progress in the fight against cancer.

Despite all that progress, a cure for cancer is still hard to come by. One cure for cancer is not the only cure for the disease. Siegel said it was hundreds of diseases. Hundreds of different types of cures are needed to cure cancer.

The bar for curing cancer is very high. If there are no traces of cancer in the body, it will not return or be expected to return. Even if all traces of a cancer have vanished, there is no guarantee that it will not return.

Siegel said that there is never a guarantee that cancer won't recur because cancer cells can hide in the body undetected. The longer a person is out of the hospital, the less likely it is that the cancer will return.

Treatment for a particular cancer doesn't mean that it will work for everyone. Siegel said that each person's cancer has a different signature and responds differently to treatment compared to someone else with the same type of cancer.

Additional resources

Study further cancer statistics in the U.S. and learn more about the odds of surviving cancer.

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