Number of U.S. Cancer Survivors Grows to Nearly 12 Million

Share On Social!

The number of U.S. cancer survivors increased from 3 million in 1971 to 11.7 million in 2007, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute.

There were 3 million cancer survivors in 1971 and 9.8 million in 2001.

A cancer survivor is defined as anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, from the time of diagnosis through the balance of his or her life. Many people with cancer live a long time after diagnosis; more than a million people were alive in 2007 after being diagnosed with cancer 25 years or more earlier.

Of the 11.7 million people living with cancer in 2007:

• 7 million were 65 years of age or older.
• 6.3 million were women.
• 4.7 million were diagnosed 10 years earlier or more.

The largest groups of cancer survivors were:

• Breast cancer survivors (22%).
• Prostate cancer survivors (19%).
• Colorectal cancer survivors (10%).

Latino cancer survivors can get support from a variety of places.

For example, the Lance Amrstrong Foundation (LAF) offers LIVESTRONG SurvivorCare, which offers free online professional support in English and Spanish for any person affected by cancer to help: cope with emotional concerns through counseling and support; address financial, insurance and job concerns; match to clinical trials and new treatments in development; locate and access local resources; and more.

LIVESTRONG also revamped its Web site, adding new videos, audio features and links to Facebook and Twitter messages, thanks to content developed in part researchers at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday.