A third of all cancers are diagnosed in people over 75, according to analysis by Cancer Research UK.
More than 375,000 cases are detected in Britain every year, the equivalent of 1,000 every day.
Cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and intestine make up the overwhelming majority and represent around half of the total.
But certain types of cancer, which can grow virtually anywhere in the body, are more common at different ages.
For example, prostate cancer is the most common form among men over 50 years of age.
In women, the breast takes first place in the same age groups.
However, according to data compiled by MailOnline in a fascinating interactive tool, the most common types in children and young people are brain tumours, leukemia and lymphoma.
Buckingham Palace revealed last night that King Charles has an unspecified form of cancer.
He was found during treatment for his enlarged prostate. This 75-year-old man does not have prostate cancer, the most common type among older men.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said this morning he was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the diagnosis. However, he was “grateful” that he had been “detected in time.”
Figures suggest that around one in two people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime.
According to Cancer Research UK, a third of all cases in the UK are preventable.
Last year, bowel cancer overtook lung cancer to become the third most common type of disease, affecting 41,000 patients in 2021 in England.
Only the breasts (almost 50,000) and the prostate (43,000) became sicker.
In comparison, fewer than 40,000 cases of lung cancer were detected.
Officials believe that more people getting tested, inspired by high-profile cases such as that of Dame Deborah James, has helped boost diagnosis rates.
Last month, Sarah Ferguson revealed she had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the fifth most common type of cancer.
The Duchess of York, 64, is said to be in “good spirits” despite the “distressing” news, which marked her second cancer diagnosis in six months after being treated for breast cancer last year.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney, pancreas, bladder and lip, oral cavity and pharynx are among the other ten most common cancers in the UK.
The first sign that something was wrong with King Charles’s health came on January 17, when Buckingham Palace made a surprise announcement that the king had “seeked treatment” for an enlarged prostate.
He chose to make his prostate treatment public, with the aim of encouraging more men to have prostate checks, the palace said at the time.
Yesterday, palace officials also revealed that she decided to share her cancer diagnosis in the hope that it would “help public understanding of all those around the world affected by cancer.”
For many types of cancer, the chance of developing it increases with age.
Buckingham Palace revealed last night that King Charles has an unspecified form of cancer. He was found during treatment for his enlarged prostate. This 75-year-old man does not have prostate cancer, the most common type among older men. Above: Charles was last seen greeting his supporters as he attended a service with his wife, Queen Camilla, at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, on Sunday.
Yesterday, Buckingham Palace revealed that King Charles decided to share his cancer diagnosis in the hope that it would “help public understanding of all those around the world affected by cancer.”
Last month, Sarah Ferguson (pictured in December) revealed that she had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. The Duchess of York, 64, is said to be in “good spirits” despite the “distressing” news which marks her second cancer diagnosis in six months after being treated for breast cancer last year. .
Figures from the UK suggest that more than a third (36 per cent) of new cancer cases, on average, occur in people aged 75 and over.
Meanwhile, adults between 50 and 75 years old account for more than half (54 percent) of all new cases.
People aged 25 to 49 contribute to around a tenth (9 per cent) of new cases, with almost twice as many women as men diagnosed in this age group.
In October, a surprising analysis (dubbed a “wake-up call”) found that cancer now deprives Britons of an average of 14 years of life.
By comparison, this is one year longer than for patients diagnosed in the 1980s. And experts predict the situation could get even worse.
In the first analysis of its kind, researchers found that more than two million years of life are lost to cancer each year in the UK.
But the researchers who conducted the analysis said the data somewhat paradoxically demonstrated the success of cancer screening programs in Britain.
While the level of progress in cancer survival for some forms of the disease has been rapid, such as breast and prostate cancer, others, such as lung and pancreas, have only improved at a snail’s pace.
Experts told MailOnline this was probably due to a broad increase in life expectancy, meaning a cancer diagnosis is now robbing people of more of their life expectancy than around 30 years ago.
The increase in overall life expectancy of the population left people with “more to lose” from the disease.
NHS cancer services repeatedly fail to achieve their goals.
The latest official health service data on cancer waiting times shows that only six in ten (65.2 per cent) cancer patients were seen within the two-month target in November.
NHS guidelines state that 85 per cent of cancer patients should be seen within this time frame.
It comes as global health leaders also warned last week that cancer deaths in the UK will soar by more than 50 per cent by 2050.
The growing and aging population, combined with unhealthy lifestyles, will lead to an increase in cases.
The World Health Organization predicts there will be tens of thousands more cases and deaths in Britain each year than previously estimated.