What are the most common types of cancer in Iowa?

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By Amie Rivers

July 18, 2025

Here are the most common types of cancer in Iowa in 2025, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.

The Iowa Cancer Registry puts out an annual Cancer in Iowa report that estimates, based on data, the cancers that will be diagnosed, as well as the types of cancer Iowans are estimated both survive with and die from.

Iowa continues to have the second-highest, age-adjusted rate of new cancers in the US (Kentucky has the highest), and the second-highest prevalence of cancer behind Connecticut (this means how many are living with cancer).

Iowa is also one of only two states with a rising rate, and of the two, we are rising the fastest.

There are nearly 172,000 cancer survivors in Iowa, which is 5.4% of the population. More than 20,000 Iowans are diagnosed with cancer each year.

The top 10 most common cancers Iowans will be diagnosed with in 2025:

Breast (13.9% of all cancer diagnoses in Iowa)
Prostate (13.7%)
Lung (12.1%)
Colon and rectum (7.8%)
Skin melanoma (6.7%)
Bladder (4.4%)
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (4.2%)
Kidney and renal pelvis (4.0%)
Leukemia (3.4%)
Uterus (3.3%)

Others: Pancreas (3.1%), oral cavity and pharynx (2.9%), thyroid (2.4%), liver and intrahepatic bile duct (1.6%), myeloma (1.5%), all other types of cancer (15%).

The top 10 most common cancers Iowans will die of in 2025:

Lung (22.7% of all cancer deaths in Iowa)
Colon and rectum (8.7%)
Pancreas (7.8%)
Breast (6.2%)
Prostate (5.4%)
Leukemia (4.1%)
Liver and intrahepatic bile duct (4%)
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (3.8%)
Esophagus (3.2%)
Bladder (2.8%)

Others: Brain (2.7%), kidney and renal pelvis (2.7%), myeloma (2.1%), uterus (2.1%), ovary (1.9%), all others (19.8%).

The top 10 most common cancers Iowans will be living with in 2025:

Breast (21.8% of total cancer survivors in Iowa)
Prostate (18.5%)
Colon and rectum (9.1%)
Skin melanoma (8.2%)
Uterus (5.3%)
Thyroid (5%)
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (4.8%)
Bladder (4.8%)
Kidney and renal pelvis (4.2%)
Lung (4.2%)

Others: Leukemia (3.3%), oral cavity and pharynx (2.9%), testis (1.7%), cervix (1.5%), Hodgkin lymphoma (1.3%), all others (3.4%).

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.

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CATEGORIES: HEALTHCARE

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