In addition to understanding where cancers happen, I wanted to demystify when they happen. By graphing total new cases versus deaths by age bracket for the most prevalent types of cancer, I noticed several patterns:

Overall, the greatest percentage of cancer cases and deaths occurs later in life. At around age 65, the percentage of deaths (darker colors) starts to outpace new cases (lighter tints).

Acute lymphocytic leukemia accounts for the greatest number of new cancer cases for those under 20. In early adulthood, testicular cancer ranks highest, followed by Hodgkin’s disease.

In mid-life and later, testicular cancer (starting at the longest blue bar) drops significantly, while prostate cancer starts to skyrocket (ending at the longest yellow bar).

By age 85 and older, the numbers start to subside, although prostate cancer, urinary bladder cancer, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia still rank quite high.

(NOTE: This graph was generated using 2003 data.)