Cancer Types

The Five Main Types of Cancer

When researching the main categories of cancer, the five types of cancer commonly known as the main “types”, include:

• Carcinoma: the most common cancer, found in the skin, lungs, pancreas, breasts, glands, and other organs.
• Sarcoma: found in the bone, blood vessels, fat, cartilage and muscles
• Melanoma: found in the cells that create pigment within the skin
• Lymphoma: found in the lymphocytes
• Leukemia: cancer of the blood

The Two-Hundred Types of Cancer

Cancer comes in many, many different types including (but not limited to):

• Breast Cancer
• Lung Cancer
• Colon Cancer
• Rectal Cancer
• Nasopharyngeal Cancer
• Liver (Hepatobiliary) Cancer
• Pancreatic Cancer
• Stomach and Esophageal Cancer
• Prostate Cancer
• Kidney Cancer
• Bladder Cancer
• Cervical Cancer
• Ovarian Cancer
• Uterus Cancer
• Brain Cancer
• Oral Cancer
• Oropharyngeal, Laryngeal Cancer
• Sarcoma
• Testicular Cancer
• Paediatric Cancer
• Lymphoma
• Leukemia
• Skin Cancer

Once you have received your cancer diagnosis from your oncology team, it is useful to undertake specific research into your type of cancer and to learn more about what the diagnosis might mean and what cancer treatments you could undertake. Many of these types of cancer have one or more sub-categories within their cancer types, and this is one of the many reasons why it is important to research information on your specific cancer type.

The Ten Most Common Types of Cancer

Not all cancer types are identically or as deadly, and some cancer types are specific to a particular demographic of people. For example, pediatric cancer is any cancer found in children, while cervical cancer can only be found in women and testicular cancer only in men.

Some types of cancer are far more common than others, and while the statistics may vary from place to place, country to country, typically the most common types of cancers are:

1. Skin cancer; including both non-melanoma and melanoma types
2. Lung cancer
3. Prostate cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men (besides skin cancer)
4. Breast cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women (besides skin cancer) – also found in men
5. Colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer in both men and women
6. Kidney cancer
7. Bladder cancer
8. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (of which there are approximately 30 different types)
9. Thyroid cancer
10. Endometrial cancer

What is the Most Deadly Type of Cancer?

When considering the continuous amount of cancer research that is conducted by medical research teams around the world each year, a common trend has appeared – Lung cancer.

Lung cancer has been at the top of the deadliest cancer types year in and year out. It occurs when healthy cells within the lungs mutate and grow uncontrollably. This mutation can lead to tumors to grow both in the lungs and into the surrounding tissue. The early symptoms of lung cancer can be few, and many people may not find out that they have lung cancer until it has already spread.

The cancerous toxins found in cigarettes cause more than 90% of diagnosed cases surrounding lung cancer. Unfortunately, lung cancer is not reserved for people who smoke, as seen in the 10% of cases who had not exposed their body to such a toxic chemical.

There are two major types of lung cancer, including the most common type: ‘non-small cell lung cancer‘, and the faster spreading ‘small cell lung cancer‘. Lung cancer is typically diagnosed in patients between the ages of 55 and 65 years of age.