Over the next decade, the population of cancer survivors over 65 years of age will increase by approximately 42 percent.

“We can expect a dramatic increase in the number of older adults who are diagnosed with or carry a history of cancer,” said Julia Rowland, Ph.D., director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). “Cancer is largely a disease of aging, so we’re seeing yet another effect of the baby boom generation and we need to prepare for this increase.”

Rowland’s report is part of the special focus on cancer survivorship, published in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Rowland and colleagues analyzed data from the NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program. This report on cancer survivorship statistics will be updated and published on an annual basis.