The "worst" cancers are often ranked by mortality, with lung, colorectal, pancreatic, liver, and breast cancers consistently topping lists for causing the most deaths globally and in major regions like the U.S. and Australia, due to factors like late detection, aggressive spread, and resistance to treatment, with pancreatic and esophageal cancers frequently cited as having very low survival rates despite lower incidence.
Lung and bronchus, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancers are responsible for nearly 50% of all deaths.
Primary tumors in the following locations are associated with a relatively high prevalence of pain:
According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer and especially lung cancer caused by asbestos is the deadliest form of cancer. It has killed an estimated 142,600 to over 148,000 individuals between 2019 and the beginning of 2021, making it three times deadlier than breast cancer.
What cancers have the lowest survival rates?
Incurable cancers are those that current treatments cannot completely eliminate, often because they are advanced (spread) or have returned after initial treatment, but they are not necessarily untreatable; treatments like chemo, radiation, and new targeted therapies aim to control the disease, slow growth, relieve symptoms, and improve quality of life. Common examples of cancers often considered incurable include pancreatic, liver, brain, esophageal, and certain advanced lung cancers, but research continuously offers new hope, with many patients living longer with ongoing management.
The number one preventable cause of cancer globally is tobacco use, including smoking and secondhand smoke, responsible for about one-third of cancer deaths and linked to many cancer types, followed by factors like unhealthy diet, inactivity, alcohol, obesity, and infections. While genetics and radiation also play roles, tobacco is the leading avoidable risk factor, making living smoke-free the best way to reduce risk.
About 90% of cancers are caused by environmental and lifestyle factors, not genetics, including smoking, poor diet (red meat, fried foods), alcohol, sun exposure, pollutants, infections, obesity, and inactivity; only 5–10% are due to inherited genetic defects, with most cancers arising from lifestyle-induced genetic mutations. Tobacco alone accounts for about a third of cancer deaths, while diet, obesity, and inactivity contribute significantly, with controllable factors being key to prevention.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal forms of cancer, often called the silent killer, because it rarely causes symptoms until it has already advanced. 80% of patients are diagnosed with metastatic cancer.
Small-cell lung cancer tends to grow much faster, having a doubling time of 25 - 30 days, whereas prostate cancers are much slower growing, taking 2 - 4 years for their growth to double2,3.
Symptoms
Highly aggressive cancers include PDAC, NSCLC, CRC, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or liver cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and brain tumors, such as glioblastoma. Neuroblastoma is an example of a highly aggressive solid tumor in early childhood.
Mutations can happen by chance when a cell is dividing. They can also be caused by the processes of life inside the cell. Or by things coming from outside the body, such as the chemicals in tobacco smoke. And some people can inherit faults in particular genes that make them more likely to develop a cancer.
However, we also know that there are ways to reduce your risk of developing 5 of the 6 less survivable cancers.
“Our recent analysis shows that many early-onset cancer types, including colorectal cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, and multiple myeloma have increased more rapidly compared to late-onset cancer types.”
A cancer diagnosis is never good news, but there are five types that are are particularly deadly: pancreatic, ovarian, lung, glioblastoma and triple-negative breast.
Chronic pain can be due to changes to the nerves. Nerve changes may be due to cancer pressing on nerves or due to chemicals produced by a tumour. It can also be caused by nerve changes due to cancer treatment. Chronic pain continues long after the injury or treatment is over and can range from mild to severe.
Among all cancers, prostate cancer is ranked as the slowest growing cancer.
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers thanks to the HPV vaccine. HPV, or the human papillomavirus, causes 99% of all cervical cancers. The HPV vaccine, which is given in 2 doses, targets 9 different types of the virus.
General risk factors
Age – the risk of developing cancer increases as you get older. Lifestyle factors – these include smoking, your weight, your diet, how active you are, sun exposure and sunbed use, and how much alcohol you drink. You can read more about how to reduce your risk below.
Lycopene was found to inhibit human cancer cell proliferation, and to suppress insulin-like growth factor-I-stimulated growth.
6 Cancer-Causing Foods a Harvard Doctor Warns About — And What to Eat Instead
Twenty potential signs of cancer include **unexplained weight loss, persistent fatigue, unusual lumps or swelling, skin changes (sores that don't heal, new moles, color changes), changes in bowel/bladder habits, persistent cough or shortness of breath, hoarseness/voice changes, difficulty swallowing, persistent indigestion, unexplained pain, night sweats, unusual bleeding/bruising, mouth sores that won't heal, loss of appetite, fever, changes in vision/headaches, swelling in lymph nodes, nipple changes, painful urination/ejaculation, and swelling in the face/neck; these warrant a doctor's visit if they last more than a few weeks.
A meta-analysis published in 2015 showed a modestly elevated risk for not only prostate cancer but also breast and ovarian cancers for those with the highest intake of eggs, more than 5 per week, as compared to those with no egg consumption at all (39).