Breast Cancer

Estimated new cases in 2008: 184,450.
Lifetime probability of developing this cancer: 1 in 8.

Update: Five-year survival rates have increased to 89 percent. This cancer is the poster child for the new targeted treatments that attack the gene mechanisms that cause the disease. And new tests  can now look at a patient’s genes and help predict the risk of recurrence. Still other genetic tests help determine the therapies that will work most effectively.

Colon Cancer

Estimated new cases in 2008: 108,070.
Lifetime probability of developing this cancer: 1 in 19, women; 1 in 18, men.

Update: This cancer is highly preventable when patients are regularly checked and screened via colonoscopy. For years there was only one drug to treat this cancer, now there are five. Five-year survival rates have increased to 65 percent, but when localized cancer is detected early and treated surgically, the survival rate is 95 percent.

Lung Cancer

Estimated new cases in 2008: 215,020.
Lifetime probability of developing this cancer: 1 in 16, women; 1 in 13, men.

Update: Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women. And yet 85 to 90 percent of these cases could be prevented if no one smoked. Five-year survival rates have improved slightly—from 13 percent in 1977 to 16 percent today. The recent discovery of genes linked to this cancer may help detect it earlier.

Prostate Cancer

Estimated new cases in 2008: 186,320.
Lifetime probability of developing this cancer: 1 in 6.

Update: Five-year survival rates, a milestone for most cancers, increased from 69 to 99 percent from 1975 to 2003. Many men die with prostate cancer—one of the slowest-growing cancers—but only a few die from the disease. Many older men with prostate cancer need only be monitored, not treated.