From 1990 through 2023, a total of 1, 267, 520 people died of cancer in the United States before 50 years of age (53% were female). The age-standardized death rate decreased by 44%, from 25.5 to 14.2 per 100 000. Among the 5 leading causes of cancer death, the mean annual decline from 2014 through 2023 was 0.3% for brain cancer, 1.4% for breast cancer, 2.3% for leukemia, and 5.7% for lung cancer.
Only colorectal cancer mortality increased, by 1.1% annually since 2005, advancing it from fifth most common from 1990 through 1994 to the most common cancer death in 2023.
Conversely, lung cancer and leukemia dropped from ranking first to fourth and third to fifth, respectively, whereas breast cancer remained the second-leading cancer death overall and first in females. Cervical cancer ranked third in females in 1990 and 2023, despite a continuous decline throughout the study period. The cancer distribution in males mirrored the overall pattern, with breast cancer replaced by non-Hodgkin lymphoma (fourth) in 1990 and pancreatic cancer (fifth) in 2023.
Mortality has decreased for every leading cancer-related death in people younger than 50 years in the United States except colorectal cancer, which is now the leading cancer death in females and males combined, up from the fifth-leading cancer death in the early 1990s. Breast cancer and leukemia mortality decreased despite increasing incidence.
Colorectal Cancer
3 in 4 patients younger than 50 years are diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer; screening before 50 years of age has been associated with both early diagnosis and reduced incidence and mortality, and is recommended to begin at age 45 years for people at average risk and earlier for people with a genetic or family history that increases risk.
In the United States, colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and the fourth leading cause in women, but it is the second most common cause of cancer deaths when numbers for men and women are combined. It is expected to cause about 55,230 deaths during 2026. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2026, there will be about 49,990 new cases of rectal cancer (28,750 in men and 21,240 in women) and about 108,860 new cases of colon cancer (55,410 in men and 53,450 in women).
The death rate from colorectal cancer has been dropping by about 1.5% per year in older adults during the past decade but has been increasing about 1% per year since the mid-2000s for people under 55.
If you or a loved one were injured (or worse) as a result of the misdiagnosis of cancer in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your cancer malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a cancer medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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