A doctor examines MRI scans, in this enews photo.
Nearly one in 10 Americans now say they have been diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives—an increase of almost 40 percent in 16 years.
The latest data from the 2024-25 Gallup poll revealed that 9.7 percent of adults in the United States said they had received a cancer diagnosis at least once in their lifetime.
This represents a 9 percent increase from the previous survey period of 2022-23, when 8.9 percent of respondents said they had received a cancer diagnosis.
In 2008-09, 7 percent of respondents said they had been diagnosed with cancer.
Researchers cautioned that the United States now has more cancer survivors than ever partly because of shifting demographics, particularly the increase in longevity, with older adults more likely to be diagnosed with cancer, but also because survival rates for many forms of the disease have significantly improved.
Mortality Rates Declining
The American Cancer Society estimates that overall cancer mortality has declined 34 percent from 1991 to 2022, largely due to improvements in treatments and screening techniques and a reduction in smoking.
The Gallup researchers noted the recent rise in rates in several forms of the disease, including breast and colon cancer, among younger adults. The survey did not include children.
Gallup pointed to research from the National Institutes for Health (NIH) showing that 14 different cancers in people under age 50 are rising, with patients in this group having a higher fatality rate because they are more likely to be diagnosed at the later stages. Younger people are not usually routinely screened for cancer, and the disease is more difficult to treat the later it is detected.
However, the NIH found rates for 19 other kinds of cancer among younger people were falling across the same period (2010-19), which Gallup researchers said indicates a “mixed picture” in early-onset diagnoses.
For its poll, Gallup surveyed 41,000 adults across every state in 2024 and 2025, in what was designed to be a representative sample of the population. They asked participants the question, “Has a doctor or nurse ever told you that you have cancer?”
Among people over 65, 21.5 percent now say they have received a cancer diagnosis—up 3.4 percent compared to the 2008-09 survey.
For those aged 45 to 64, 8.9 percent now say they have received a cancer diagnosis, up 1.5 percent from 2008-09.
Among those aged 18 to 44, the proportion who have received a cancer diagnosis remained steady since 2008 and 2009.
Demographic Differences
Overall, men were slightly more likely to say they had received a cancer diagnosis than women. A total of 9.8 percent of men across all age groups said they had received the diagnosis in the latest survey, compared to 9.6 percent of women.
Among men, the proportion saying they had received a diagnosis increased by 3.6 percent over the 15-year period, compared to a smaller increase of 1.7 percent among women.
In terms of race, black adults saw the fastest increase in the proportion saying they had been diagnosed with cancer, a rise of 3.6 percent overall.
White adults saw an increase of 2.7 percent, while Hispanic adults saw a 2.3 percent rise.
Asian adults saw the slowest growth in the proportion who said they had received a cancer diagnosis, up 1.4 percent over the 15-year period.
Overall, white people were most likely to receive a cancer diagnosis, the survey found, with 10.9 percent saying they had been told they had cancer.
The diagnosis was least likely among Asian adults overall. The survey showed 3.2 percent said they had previously received a cancer diagnosis. Among black adults, it was 7.8 percent, and among Hispanic adults, it was 5.4 percent.
Gallup researchers said: “Overall, the cancer story in the U.S. is mixed with both good news and bad news. Mortality is falling and people are living longer post-diagnosis, but an aging population and an increasing percentage of those living post-removal or post-remission bring their own challenges to the US healthcare system.
“Even after being clinically cancer-free, survivors typically remain under structured medical surveillance for years—and sometimes indefinitely—depending on the cancer type, stage and treatment history.
“The result is that even as millions of Americans are no longer acutely ill, they remain medically engaged, seeing oncologists or other specialists, undergoing scans, managing late effects and living with ongoing health anxiety.”
Cancer Costs
The Gallup researchers also pointed to the financial concerns for Americans who have received a cancer diagnosis at any point, as these people “typically stay meaningfully connected to the healthcare system for years afterward, often with significant cost management associated with such care.”
The total annual cost of cancer care (medical services plus drugs) in the United States was estimated at $208.9 billion in 2020, according to the National Cancer Institute.
More broadly, an estimate by Vision Research Reports puts the wider oncology market value in the United States, meaning drugs, treatment, and associated care costs, at around $145.5 billion in 2024. The total value of the global oncology market is predicted to surpass $903.8 billion by 2034.
