Some cancers are particularly deadly.
This can be because they are difficult to diagnose, rare, aggressive, or because there just aren't effective treatments yet.
In a report released by the American Cancer Society on Jan. 14, the organization estimated that over 1.6 million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the US this year, and that nearly 596,000 will die.
More people in the United States die from lung cancer each year than from any other cancer, partly because it's the second-most commonly diagnosed cancer among Americans. But other, less common types have an even grimmer prognosis.
Only 7% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are still alive five years after their diagnosis, the ACS report found. Advocates have long called for more research dollars devoted to finding effective treatments for the especially deadly cancer, criticizing what they've called "a trickle of federal funding for a river of need."
The graphic below shows the five deadliest cancers for people diagnosed between 2005 and 2011, highlighting some of the areas of oncology where there is an urgent need for new interventions:
It's important to note that these survival rates are an average of everyone diagnosed over a particular period of time, which gives a big picture view but is not always the most useful way to understand an individual diagnosis. As the National Cancer Institute cautions:
Because statistics are based on large groups of people, they cannot be used to predict exactly what will happen to you. Everyone is different. Treatments and how people respond to treatment can differ greatly. Also, it takes years to see the benefit of new treatments and ways of finding cancer. So, the statistics ... may not be based on treatments being used today.
A doctor can give an individual patient a better sense of his or her prognosis, taking the patient's particular situation and the latest research into account.
