Thus, approximately 2 of every 5 men are expected to develop cancer of some site during life. Although Table 12 displays numbers that are precise to one decimal place, the following discussion will use approximations derived from these numbers to discuss highlights of the table. One in 18 women will develop colorectal cancer, but only 1 in 39 will die from it. One in 20 will develop lung cancer, and 1 in 22 will die from this disease, making it the most likely cause of cancer death in Canadian women. One in 11 men will develop lung cancer, and 1 in 12 will die from this condition.
Lung cancer is thus by far the leading cause of cancer deaths in Canadian men.
The probability of developing cancer within the next 10 years gives a useful indication of the short-term risk of cancer. Table 12 shows how steeply the risk of developing prostate cancer rises with age. A man has very little probability of developing prostate cancer by age 50.