Nearly 10% of U.S. adults have had cancer at some point in their lives, the latest Gallup poll shows. That's the largest percentage Gallup has recorded in more over 18 years of data collection, but the reasons behind it are complicated.
When Gallup first posed the question for its national health and well-being index, only 7% of respondents said a doctor or nurse had ever told them they had cancer. That figure was based on two-year averages between 2008 and 2009, and the rate stayed roughly the same for a decade.
When Gallup crunched the 2018-2019 numbers, however, the percentage had shot up to 8.3%. It has steadily climbed in the ensuing years. Most recently, 9.7% of the 40,915 people surveyed between 2024 and 2025 said they've received a cancer diagnosis.
The upward trend doesn't mean overall cancer rates are increasing, Gallup cautioned. The statistic reflects lifetime cancer diagnoses, which have increased as the American population has aged and treatments have improved. The rate of new cases actually has declined slightly. The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control reported a 4% decrease over a 10-year period, between 2013 and 2022.
Gallup saw the biggest increases in cancer diagnoses in adults aged 65 and older; 21.5% of people in this age group said they'd received one in their lifetimes. Cancer mortality rates, however, dropped 14% between 2013 and 2023. These trends indicate "improved treatment has resulted in more Americans living longer in the aftermath of being diagnosed with the disease," Gallup wrote. More survivors living into old age, the firm added, "will have the effect of inflating the overall U.S. lifetime cancer rate."
Researchers have observed increases in certain types of cancer in younger populations. Colorectal cancer rates among adults ages 18-50 have risen significantly in recent decades, becoming the leading cause of cancer death for men under 50. A recent study also found a dramatic spike in appendix cancer cases among Generation X and millennials. Breast cancer cases, which have risen overall since 2012, also have hit younger women the hardest.
The data presents "both good news and bad news," Gallup writes, pointing to potential health care challenges as the population continues to age. The U.S. Census Bureau has predicted that the share of adults 65 and older will outpace Americans under 18 for the first time in history by 2034. Since age is the most important risk factor for cancer — and many survivors are already relying on the system for follow-up scans and management — demands on the health care system are likely to increase in the coming years.
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