Cancer has touched the lives of most American families, according to a recent CBS News Poll. Fifty-four percent of Americans say they or someone else in their immediate family has been diagnosed with cancer at some point. Forty-six percent said no.

Cancer seems to have affected Americans of all income levels and geographic locations, particularly Americans age 50 and over. Women report having a cancer diagnosis in their family more often than men do.

Has Anyone in Your Family Ever Been Diagnosed With Cancer?





Yes No Total 54% 46% Men 51 49 Women 57 43 Ages 18-49 49 50 Age 50+ 59 41 Northeast 51 48 Midwest 55 45 South 54 46 West 54 46 Income <$50K 56 44 Income $50K-$100K 52 48 Income >$100K 57 43

When it comes to the amount of spending by the federal government on cancer research, 39% of Americans think there has been too little spent compared with other medical research -- a slightly higher percentage than said so back in 2009. Only 6% think there has been too much federal spending on cancer research.

Government Spending on Cancer Research:

Now April 2009 Too much 6% 7% Too little 39 34 Right amount 35 34 Don’t know 19 25

There is little in the way of demographic difference on the issue of government spending for cancer research, though more Democrats (41%) and independents (41%) think too little is spent than Republicans (34%).

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) think it’s at least somewhat likely that a cure for cancer will be found in their lifetime, including 28% who believe that’s very likely to happen. These percentages are similar to what they were four years ago, though more optimistic than they were in 2009.

Likely There Will be a Cure for Cancer in Your Lifetime?

Now April 2013 Dec. 2009 Very 28% 29% 17% Somewhat 35 37 38 Not very 21 20 26 Not at all 14 10 15

This poll was conducted by telephone March 3-7, 2017 among a random sample of 1,033 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Media, Pa. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.

The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.

Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers.

The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables.

The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus four percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.