Prevalence refers to the number of people who have previously received a diagnosis of cancer and who are still alive at a given time point. Some patients will have been cured of their disease and others will not.
Worldwide, it is estimated that there were 32.5 million men and women still alive in 2012, up to five years after their diagnosis. Most of these had been diagnosed with breast (females only), bowel (including anus), or prostate cancer.[1]