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Download the 2006/2007 Cancer Survivorship Fact Sheet (PDF-271KB).

An increasing number of people are surviving cancer diagnoses. As the population of cancer survivors grows, the public health community is considering ways to address the issues related to survivorship. Survivorship is a broad term that refers not only to people who have been diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, but also to the friends and family members of people who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Cancer and Survivorship

Because of advances in the early detection and treatment of cancer, individuals are living many years after a diagnosis. As of January 2004, approximately 11.1 million people were living with a previous diagnosis of cancer in the United States.¹ Today, approximately 65% of people diagnosed with cancer are expected to live at least 5 years after diagnosis.¹

During diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment, cancer survivors face physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and financial issues—issues that are of concern to public health professionals.

For example, because of genetic predispositions, common lifestyle factors, and the effects of cancer treatments, cancer survivors are at increased risk for certain health problems after diagnosis and treatment.² In light of these concerns, public health initiatives that strive to understand and prevent secondary disease and recurrence, and to improve survivors' quality of life, are essential.

Risk Factors

• Age is a primary risk factor for most cancers. In fact, approximately 56% of all cancers are diagnosed among individuals aged 65 years or older.³



• Smoking is a preventable risk factor for cancer recurrence and second cancers. Smoking also contributes to primary cancers.^{4 5}



• Obesity may be related to poorer survival for women diagnosed with breast cancer^{7 9 10} and to a poor prognosis following a prostate cancer diagnosis.^{6 8}



• Low-income men and women who have inadequate or no health insurance coverage are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at later stages, when survival times are shorter.¹¹

Screening

Cancer survivors are at greater risk for recurrence and for developing second cancers, because of the effects of treatment, continued lifestyle behaviors, underlying genetics, or risk factors that contributed to the first cancer. Although screening guidelines are not available for all cancers, survivors should discuss with their doctors at the end of treatment the appropriate schedule for screening, as well as the types of screening needed. Survivors also need to discuss with their health care team which providers will be responsible for monitoring this screening schedule long-term.

Estimated Number of Cancer Survivors in the United States from 1971 to 2005

*U.S. 2005 cancer prevalence counts are based on 2005 cancer prevalence proportions from the SEER 9 registries and 1/1/2005 U.S. population estimates based on the average of 2004 and 2005 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Source: Ries LAG, Melbert D, Krapcho M, Stinchcomb DG, Howlader N, Horner MJ, Mariotto A, Miller BA, Feuer EJ, Altekruse SF, Lewis DR, Clegg L, Eisner MP, Reichman M, Edwards BK (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975–2005, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, based on November 2007 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER Web site, 2008.

References

1. Ries LAG, Melbert D, Krapcho M, Stinchcomb DG, Howlader N, Horner MJ, Mariotto A, Miller BA, Feuer EJ, Altekruse SF, Lewis DR, Clegg L, Eisner MP, Reichman M, Edwards BK (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975–2005, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, based on November 2007 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER Web site, 2008.



2. Ganz PA. Late effects of cancer and its treatment. Seminars in Oncology Nursing 2001;17:241–248.



3. U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2004 Incidence and Mortality. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2007.



4. Khuri FR, Kim ES, Lee JJ, Winn RJ, Benner SE, Lippman SM, Fu KK, Cooper JS, Vokes EE, Chamberlain RM, Williams B, Pajak TF, Goepfert H, Hong WK. The impact of smoking status, disease stage, and index tumor site on second primary tumor incidence and tumor recurrence in the head and neck retinoid chemoprevention trial.* Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2001;10(8):823–829.



5. Do KA, Johnson MM, Lee JJ, Wu XF, Dong Q, Hong WK, Khuri FR, Spitz MR. Longitudinal study of smoking patterns in relation to the development of smoking-related secondary primary tumors in patients with upper aerodigestive tract malignancies. Cancer 2004;101(12):2837–2842.



6. Whiteman MK, Hillis SD, Curtis KM, McDonald JA, Wingo PA, Marchbanks PA. Body mass and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2005;14(8):2009–2014.



7. Loi S, Milne RL, Friedlander ML et al. Obesity and outcomes in premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2005;14(7):1686–1691.



8. Kroenke CH, Chen WY, Rosner B, Holmes MD. Weight, weight gain, and survival after breast cancer diagnosis. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2005;23(7):1370–1378.



9. Bassett WW, Cooperberg MR, Sadetsky N, Silva S, DuChane J, Pasta DJ, Chan JM, Anast JW, Carroll PR, Kane CJ. Impact of obesity on prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy: data from CaPSURE. Urology 2005;66(5):1060–1065.



10. Freedland SJ, Grubb KA, Yiu SK, Humphreys EB, Nielsen ME, Mangold LA, Isaacs WB, Partin AW. Obesity and risk of biochemical progression following radical prostatectomy at a tertiary care referral center. Journal of Urology 2005;174(3):919–922.



11. Schwartz KL, Crossley-May H, Vigneau FD, Brown K, Banerjee M. Race, socioeconomic status and stage at diagnosis for five common malignancies. Cancer Causes & Control 2003;14(8):761–786.

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*Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.