What You Should Know About the Latest Cancer Trends and How to Reduce Your Risk

While the cancer mortality rate has dropped from its peak in 1991, more people – and, particularly, more women – are being diagnosed with many common cancers. You may have seen these trends and others emerge from the American Cancer Society’s new study, “Cancer Statistics, 2025,” and the Cancer Facts & Figures 2025 report.

Given the latest data, which includes troubling trends in pancreatic cancer and growing inequities in cancer outcomes for certain racial and ethnic groups, it’s more important than ever to understand the ways we can all reduce our cancer risk. This includes taking preventative health measures and catching cancer as early as possible.

Let’s break down what we learned from the report, and what it means for Americans and their cancer risk.

More young women – and less men – are being diagnosed with cancer

Women younger than 50 are being diagnosed with cancer almost twice as often as men. The gap in incidence rates for women and men in this group has increased from 51% in 2002 to 82% in 2021, which is the most current year with data. More broadly, women under 65 also have a slightly higher cancer incidence rate than men in the same age group, although the difference is not yet statistically significant.

Although many common cancers are increasing, these unfavorable trends more often affect women. In addition, lung cancer is decreasing in both men and women, but much more slowly in women. For the first time in 2021, lung cancer incidence in women under 65 surpassed that of men. In the under-50 age group, we see rising breast and thyroid cancer, driving increased diagnoses.

Incidence rates climb for common cancers

While the overall mortality rate declined by 34% from 1991 to 2022 in the United States, the incidence rates of common cancers continue to rise. This includes breast and prostate – the two most common cancers in men and women – as well as pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer (under age 65 years), oral cancers associated with the human papillomavirus, and uterine corpus, melanoma (female), and liver cancers (female).

More Native and Black Americans are dying from several cancers

The report shows that American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people are two to three times more likely than White people to die from cervical, kidney, liver, and stomach cancers. Black people are twice as likely to die from prostate, stomach, and uterine cancers than White people.

These alarming disparities are largely driven by socioeconomic inequities. Where people live, their education level, and whether they live below the federal poverty line all contribute to systemic barriers that make it harder for them to access medical care. While race and ethnicity are social constructs that aggregate large, diverse populations into a single group, they’re useful for studying the influence of discrimination and injustice on individuals.

What can you do to decrease your cancer risk?

Trends from this year’s report are striking. They underscore the need for preventive care to catch cancer as early as possible or reduce cancer risk, as well as additional research and development into treatments. There are several things you can do to reduce your risk of cancer.

1. Understand your risk profile. Some cancers seem to run in families, and others can be passed down through genes. Knowing your family history and genetic risk factors can help your doctor know what to look out for, or whether to recommend you for further testing or early screening. For example, people with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations are at a higher risk of breast, ovarian, prostate, and other cancers. If you know you carry a BRCA gene mutation – or that one of your close relatives does – you and your doctor can work on a personalized care plan based on your profile. If your parent or sibling had a polyp, you probably need to begin screening for colorectal cancer before 45.
2. Keep up-to-date on cancer screenings. Catching cancer as early as possible, before it has the chance to grow and spread, is one of the best ways to improve cancer outcomes. Routine screenings increase the chances of early detection by testing people who feel healthy before they have any symptoms. The American Cancer Society recommends screening for several cancers according to a person’s age and risk profile. Talk to your doctor about your screening options. While some must be completed in-office such as mammograms for breast cancer, others – like the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) for colorectal cancer – can be done from the comfort of home.
3. Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Nearly half of cancer deaths can be prevented by adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Not smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, and staying at a healthy weight through a nutritious diet and regular exercise are some of the most effective ways to reduce your cancer risk. Other recommendations include practicing sun safety and getting vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which often leads to cervical cancer.
4. Tell your doctor if you notice anything unusual. Whether it’s a new lump in your breast, a change in your bathroom habits, or weight loss that you can’t explain, it’s important to flag any health concerns to your doctor. The earlier any potential cancers are caught, the sooner you can get treated. Earlier interventions are the key to better cancer outcomes.

Where can you learn more? 

For more information about how you can lower your cancer risk, visit our Cancer Risk and Prevention pages.