| There are a huge number of potential cancers that a | | | | test for the disease that will let it show up in the |
| person can have. Skin, lung, pancreatic, brain, | | | | early stages. Because there is no test for the |
| esophageal, and pretty much any other tissue can | | | | disease, by the time a person goes to the doctor |
| develop tumors that become cancerous. While the | | | | with symptoms it is typically too late. |
| huge number of cancers all share the fact that they | | | | Lung cancer is another deadly form of cancer. |
| are all deadly if untreated, not all cancers, if treated, | | | | Roughly 75% of all people diagnosed with a form of |
| have the same mortality rate. | | | | lung cancer will die before the five year mark. Lung |
| The mortality rate is the percentage of individuals | | | | cancer is dangerous because it has a very strong |
| that develop a specific type of cancer that then die. | | | | ability to spread to other parts of the body quickly. |
| It can be tracked at the five year mark, ten year | | | | In addition, it is not typically a possible treatment |
| mark, and so on. One of the misleading facts of | | | | option to remove a person's lungs. Fortunately, |
| tracking mortality further out is that a person may | | | | around 80% of all people who are diagnosed with |
| die due to other causes. Because people typically | | | | lung cancer have or do smoke. This means that |
| develop cancer later in life, it is a very real possibility | | | | individuals who have not lived with smokers and have |
| that an individual that is treated successfully for skin | | | | never smoked have a less likely chance of falling into |
| cancer at 60 may die of a different cause by the | | | | this group. The other 20% of cases are attributable |
| time he or she hits 80. | | | | to a variety of other causes, like asbestos exposure. |
| Overall, pancreatic cancer is the most deadly form of | | | | Leukemia is another cancer with a high mortality rate. |
| cancer. Fortunately, it is not a terribly common form | | | | Of the individuals diagnosed with leukemia, roughly |
| of cancer. In 2008, there were 37,000 new cases of | | | | half will die. This data is somewhat misleading though |
| pancreatic cancer. While that may sound high, there | | | | because there are numerous types of leukemia. |
| were more than a million non-melanoma cases of skin | | | | Some types of leukemia are harder to treat than |
| cancer in the same year. Unfortunately, more than | | | | others and so just because a person is diagnosed |
| 90% of all people who are diagnosed with pancreatic | | | | with leukemia does not mean that the person has a |
| cancer will die before they reach the five year mark. | | | | 50/50 chance of surviving to five years. |
| This is mostly due to there not being an effective | | | | |