Cancer Facts

Cancer occurs because of changes at the cellular level that cause cells to multiply and divide at abnormal rates. Once this happens, certain types of cancer will break away and travel through the blood stream, allowing the cells to set up residence in a different part of the body. This is called metastasis.

Significance

• Second only to heart disease, cancer kills over 1.4 million Americans annually, and one in three people will experience cancer in their lifetime.

Considerations

• Eighty percent of insured cancer patients exhaust their insurance benefits before the treatment is complete.

Age

• Most cancers affect those over the age of 55; in fact, 75 percent of all cancers occur in the age range of 55 to 75 years.

Increase

• Cancer rates have increased by almost 45 percent since 1950, especially for melanoma, breast, colon, testicular, prostate, myeloma, kidney, and certain lymphomas.

Cost

• The cost of cancer to Americans is over $110 billion each year, and that number is growing.

Risk Factors

• Risk factors include smoking, carcinogens, poor nutrition, sunlight, radiation, age, heredity, obesity, and certain hormones, bacteria and viruses.

Minority and Poor Women

• Poor and minority women typically do not undergo cancer screening tests such as mammograms and Pap smears.