Cancer Clusters

If you know several people in your community who have cancer, you may be concerned that your community has a higher number of cases of cancer than other communities. Remember that cancer is common, and refers to about 100 different diseases, and there are many causes. On average, about 5 out of every 100 people in your community are either living with cancer or have survived cancer.  One out of two men and one out of three women will have cancer in their lifetime. Age, race, family history, and behavior and environmental factors influence who gets cancer. Members of the community might share some of these risk factors. For example, black men have a higher rate of getting cancer than white men and about 75 percent of all new cancer cases are in people over 55.