The Most Common Cancers in Every State by the End of 2023

In the United States, breast cancer is the most common form of the more than 200 types of the disease. It’s also overwhelmingly more common in women – only about 1% of cases affect males – making it one of the two most gender-specific cancers. The other is prostate cancer, which by definition affects only men, as it’s part of the male reproductive system.

In 2023, nearly 280,000 women in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer, according to Breastcancer.org, and one in eight American women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetimes. Over the same period, predicts the American Cancer Society, some 288,000 men will be affected by cancer of the prostate.

The two are the most common forms of cancer in the U.S. Fortunately, cancer-related deaths from both are falling in this country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports a 27% decline in overall cancer mortality – from nearly 197 to about 144 deaths per 100,000 people between 2001 and 2020 – thanks to earlier diagnoses, better treatments, and a significant drop in tobacco use, the leading cause of lung and bronchus cancer.

If caught early, breast and prostate cancers have good survival rates. More than 90% of people with these cancers will live beyond five years of diagnosis and most of them will survive beyond a decade and die from other causes. A person diagnosed with lung and bronchial cancer is less fortunate, with just a one-in-four chance of living beyond five years, according to the National Cancer Institute. (These will be the deadliest cancers in 2023.)

While female breast cancer is the most common form of the disease in the United States, it’s not always the most common form in every corner of America. It’s the most prevalent cancer in 20 states, but prostate cancer is the most common in 21 states. In the rest, lung and bronchus cancers take precedence. (Read more about the most common cancers in America and their survival rates.)

Click here to learn what will be the most common cancers in every state by the end of 2023

To identify the most common cancers in every state in 2023, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the estimated number of new cancer cases that will be diagnosed this year from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center.