The worst cancers for men, often defined by causing the most deaths or having aggressive traits, are Lung Cancer (leading cause of cancer death), followed by Pancreatic, Colorectal, and Liver cancers, with Prostate Cancer being the most common but usually less deadly if caught early, while aggressive forms of Melanoma and Esophageal Cancer are also particularly dangerous. These deadly cancers often have high mortality due to late diagnosis, advanced spread, or aggressive cell growth, with smoking being a major risk factor for lung cancer.
Cancer Deaths in Men by Percent
Prostate cancer is the leading cancer diagnosis among men and the second most common diagnosis overall with 313,780 expected cases.
Primary tumors in the following locations are associated with a relatively high prevalence of pain:
What cancers have the highest 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.
However, we also know that there are ways to reduce your risk of developing 5 of the 6 less survivable cancers.
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.
Symptoms
What are the most curable cancers? Although there are no curable cancers, melanoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and breast, prostate, testicular, cervical, and thyroid cancer have some of the highest 5-year relative survival rates.
Some cancers only affect men this includes cancer of the prostate, testicles and penis. Find out about them and the treatments you might have. Some trans women and non-binary people (who are born male) can also get these cancers. There is support and information available.
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.
Males - prostate (16.8% of all cancers diagnosed in males), colorectal (16.3%), lung (13.5%)
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the US, other than skin cancer. It's also the second-leading cause of cancer death (after lung cancer). About 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. It can happen at any age, but the chances go up as a man gets older.
Brain and pancreatic cancers have much lower median survival rates which have not improved as dramatically over the last forty years. Indeed, pancreatic cancer has one of the worst survival rates of all cancers. Small cell lung cancer has a five-year survival rate of 4% according to Cancer Centers of America's Website.
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.
15 Cancer Symptoms Men Ignore
When cancer is suspected there is a fast route within the NHS to get further tests and specialist advice to rule out cancer. These are called 2 week wait referrals and you should be seen within 2 weeks of being referred.
The older we are, the more likely we are to develop cancer. Many people are surprised by this, which could be because there are often stories in the media about younger people with cancer. Anyone can get cancer, but cancer at a young age is rare. Most cases of cancer are in people aged 50 and over.
While Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) often has better overall survival rates (around 90% 5-year survival vs. NHL's ~74%) and a more predictable spread, making it highly treatable, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) is more common, has many aggressive subtypes, and can be harder to cure, though many slow-growing NHLs behave like chronic conditions. The "worse" type depends on the specific subtype, stage, and individual factors, as NHL encompasses over 60 types, some very aggressive and others very slow-growing.
Bone Cancer: Why It's Known for Severe Pain
Bone cancer is known for causing severe pain. This pain greatly affects a patient's quality of life. The tumor can disrupt normal bone function, leading to various complications.
Early detection can dramatically improve cancer outcomes, but some cancers remain stubbornly difficult to diagnose at early stages. Pancreatic, ovarian, lung, liver, and kidney cancers present unique challenges that often delay diagnosis until the disease has advanced.
Many ask, “what cancers don't cause death? Thyroid, testicular, and some skin cancers often have very high survival rates and rarely lead to death.
Solid cancers: This is the most common type of cancer, making up about 80% to 90% of all cases. This includes carcinoma that forms in epithelial tissue (like your skin, breast, colon and lungs) and sarcoma that forms in bone and connective tissues.
If your cancer is resistant to treatment or you are near the end of life, chemotherapy may decrease your quality of life. 4 There may be times when the side effects of chemotherapy are not worth it, especially if other rounds of chemotherapy have been ineffective.