The new face of cancer: younger and feminine

More Americans are surviving cancer, but the disease strikes young and middle-aged adults and women more frequently, the American Cancer Society reported Thursday.

And despite overall improvements in survival, blacks and Native Americans die from certain cancers at rates two to three times higher than white Americans.

These trends represent a marked change for a disease that has long been considered a disease of aging and affected far more men than women.

These changes reflect a decline in smoking-related cancers and prostate cancer among older men and a disconcerting increase in cancer among people born since the 1950s.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, but the leading cause among Americans under the age of 85. The new report projects that some 2,041,910 new cases will occur this year and 618,120 Americans will die from the disease.

Six of the ten most common cancers are increasing, including breast and uterine cancers. Colorectal cancers in those under 65, as well as prostate cancer, melanoma and pancreatic cancer are also on the rise.