General Information

• What is cancer?
• Who gets cancer?
• What causes cancer?
• What are the risk factors?

What is cancer?
Cancer is the general name for a group of diseases that all have in common the uncontrolled growth of cells that, if not treated, can result in death. Cancers are named in a number of different ways. Cancers can be named for the organ of origin, as in breast cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, etc. Cancers are also named by the type of cells (as in carcinoma), cancer arising in various glandular tissues (called adenocarcinoma), or from the lining of organs (called epithelial or squamous carcinoma). Other cancers are called lymphoma (cancer rising in various lymphatic tissues), melanoma (cancer arising from the pigmented cell in skin, the melanocyte), sarcoma (cancer arising from the connective tissues), or cancers of the blood (including leukemia and myeloma).

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Who gets cancer?
About one million people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Approximately one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have cancer at some point during their lifetime. People can get cancer at any age; however, about 60% of all cancers occur in people over the age of 65.

Although cancer occurs in Americans of all racial and ethnic groups, the rate of cancer occurrence (often called the incidence rate) can vary from group to group. Overall, African Americans are more likely to develop cancer than whites. African Americans are also more likely to die of cancer than whites. Much of this difference is because African Americans are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage of disease.

Today millions of people are living with cancer or have been cured of the disease. The sooner a cancer is found, and the sooner treatment begins, the better a patient's chances are of a cure.

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What causes cancer?
Although cancer is usually thought of as one disease, it is in fact more than 200 different diseases. For many of these cancers, no definite cause is known. There is no one single cause. In fact, cancer remains something of a mystery. But new clues and solid research are greatly increasing our understanding of cancer prevention.

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What are the risk factors?
Some people with one or more cancer risk factors never develop the disease, while other people who develop cancer have no apparent risk factors. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, unprotected exposure to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidney, and several other organs.

There are different kinds of risk factors. Some risk factors, like a person's age or race, can't be changed. Others are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Still others are related to personal lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking, and diet. Almost 75% of all cancer cases in the United States are related to tobacco, alcohol use, and diet.

While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, several factors can increase the chances of developing the disease, such as age, race, and diet. The chance of getting prostate cancer increases with age. Prostate cancer is more common among African-American men than among white men. A diet that is high in fat is a major contributor to prostate cancer.

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