Cancer Types

In 2002, about 58,700 Ohioans – or 161 Ohioans per day – will be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 25,400 Ohioans – or about 70 people each day - will die from it.

Over the years, cancer will have an impact on approximately three of four Ohio families. About two in five Ohioans, or more than 4.5 million people, will eventually have cancer. Cancer may strike at any age, though it is mostly a disease of middle-aged and senior citizens. Two-thirds of new cases in America appear in people ages 55 and older, making age a more important risk factor for cancer than family history. Less than 5 percent of cancers are believed to be due to environmental risk factors.

What is Cancer?

Cancer is a group of related diseases in which there is irregular growth of abnormal cells. Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. Cancer cells continue to grow and divide, and can spread to other parts of the body. These cells form tumors that may compress, invade, and destroy normal tissue. If cells break away from a tumor, they can travel (metastasize) through the blood or the lymph system to other areas of the body where they may settle and form new tumors. Different types of cancer vary in their rates of growth, patterns of spread, and responses to different types of treatment.

Cancer may strike at any age; however, cancer is mostly a disease of middle and old age. In Ohio, about 87 percent of cancers were diagnosed in people 50 or older in 1999. Cancer is the second leading cause of death of adults in Ohio following heart disease; cancer is the second leading cause of death in children between ages 5 and 14 following accidental death.

The categories to the left provide information on the most frequently occurring cancer in Ohio. Additional information on specific cancer types may be found under "Cancer Data & Statistics" on the previous page.

Last Updated: 12/24/02

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