National Cancer Institute


Relationship of Cancer

to the Leading Causes

of the Death in the Unted States

 

Rank

Cause

Number of Deaths

Age-Adjusted Rate per 100,000 Population

Percent of Total Deaths

 

All Causes

2,311,669

678.5

100.0%

1

Heart Disease

737,470

205.3

31.9%

2

CANCER

538,437

169.0

23.3%

3

Cerebrovascular Diseases

157,984

41.9

6.8%

4

Emphysema, Bronchitis & Asthma

102,896

30.0

4.5%

5

Accidents

93,216

31.6

4.0%

6

Pneumonia & Influenza

82,919

21.2

3.6%

7

Diabetes Mellitus

59,253

17.9

2.6%

8

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

43,107

13.1

1.9%

9

Suicide and Self-Inflicted Injury

31,272

10.7

1.4%

10

Cirrhosis of the Liver

25,213

8.5

1.1%

11

Nephritis & Nephrosis

23,672

6.5

1.0%

12

Homicide

22,843

8.5

1.0%

13

Septicemia

20,964

5.9

0.9%

14

Atherosclerosis

16,722

4.1

0.7%

15

Aortic Aneurysm

16,440

4.8

0.7%

 

Other and Ill-Defined

339,261

99.4

14.7%

Source: Mortality Tape (1995) from National Center for Health Statistics.

 


Return to: 1998 Factbook, Cancer Statistics