
Rare cancer occurs in fewer than 15 out of 100,000 people every year.
Some of the characteristics of the rarest cancer are:
Rare cancer chart
The rarest types of cancer are presented in the table below.
Types of rare cancer | Number of people affected every year | The area of the body affected | Symptoms | Is it treatable? | Survival rate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hyalinizing clear cell carcinoma of minor salivary gland tumor | 51 cases |
|
|
Treatable with surgery | High survival rate |
Heart cancer | Reported one to two patients per year | Heart |
|
Yes | The 5-year survival rate is 17 percent |
Ewing’s sarcoma | 3 per 1 million people |
|
|
Yes | The 5-year survival rate for tumors that have not spread is about 70 percent and 30 percent for tumors that have spread to other locations |
Thymic carcinoma | 400 cases per year | Thymus gland |
|
Yes | The 5-year survival rate is between 30 and 50 percent |
Wilms’ tumor | 1 in 10,000 children each year (about 500 to 650 in the United States) | Kidneys |
|
Yes | High: The 5-year survival rate is about 90 percent |
Merkel cell carcinoma | About 2000 cases in the United States each year | Skin cancer typically found on the face, head, or neck |
|
Yes | The 10-year survival rate of about 57 percent (about 71 percent if caught early) |
Glioblastoma (a type of brain tumor) | 0.59 to 5 cases per 100,000 people | Found in the brain |
|
Yes | Low: People live less than a year after diagnosis |
Hepatoblastoma | 50 to 75 new cases | Liver |
|
Yes | The five-year survival rate in children is 81.5 percent |
Male breast cancer | About 2550 cases each year in the United States | Male breast tissue |
|
Yes | The five-year survival rate is 84 percent |
Fibrosarcoma | 5 per 1 million | A type of soft tissue cancer that begins in fibrous tissue, which holds bones, muscles, and other organs in place |
|
Yes | The five-year survival rate is 40 to 60 percent |

SLIDESHOW
Skin Cancer Symptoms, Types, Images See SlideshowWhy is rare cancer challenging?
Rare cancer can be challenging for patients, doctors, and scientists due to the limited information available.
For patients
- The time taken to identify any symptoms and the time taken by the doctor to identify the type of cancer can be time-consuming.
- Because there is limited information available on the rarest cancer, it would be difficult to find doctors who are aware of cancer and its treatment.
- They might experience a dilemma if the doctors do not agree on how to treat cancer.
- There might be a need to travel away from home to a distant place to get appropriate treatment for cancer.
For doctors
- It would be difficult for them to explain to their patients the outcome of the disease and treatment modalities due to the limited information available.
- They may have a lack of experience or training to treat this type of cancer.
- Lack of availability of experts in rare cancer to whom they can ask their concerns or refer the patient.
For scientists
- Due to lack of information, they may not be sure about drugs that could help treat this type of cancer.
- Lack of animal or cell models of rare cancer to test their ideas.
- Insufficient tumor samples from rare cancer patients are available to move further in the research.
- Finding enough patients with rare cancers is difficult. They are extremely important to execute the ideas about the drugs that could probably treat rare cancer.
Health News
- Attachment Theory: What It Is, Stages & the Different Attachment Styles
- Gentle Parenting: What It Is, Techniques & Discipline
- U.S. Nursing Homes Fail to Report Many Serious Falls, Bedsores: Study
- The Younger You Get Diabetes, the Higher Your Risk for Dementia Later
- FDA Grants Full Approval to Paxlovid to Treat COVID-19
More Health News »
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
Medically Reviewed on 6/9/2022
References
Image Source: iStock image
American Cancer Society. Rare Cancers, Cancer Subtypes, and Pre-Cancers. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/rare-cancers.html#F-L
National Cancer Institute. Rare cancer. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/rare-cancer
American Cancer Society. Rare Cancers, Cancer Subtypes, and Pre-Cancers. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/rare-cancers.html#F-L
National Cancer Institute. Rare cancer. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/rare-cancer
Complete List
Top What Are the Rarest Cancers Related Articles
Bone Marrow Transplantation for Breast Cancer
Bone marrow transplantation is a treatment option for metastatic breast cancer. Check out the center below for more medical references on breast cancer, including multimedia (slideshows, images, and quizzes), related disease conditions, treatment and diagnosis, medications, and prevention or wellness.Young Women & Breast Cancer
Is breast cancer genetic? Should I get tested for the BRCA gene? What every young women should know about breast cancer. Discover the signs and symptoms of breast cancer and other crucial breast cancer facts.Cancer
Cancer is a disease caused by an abnormal growth of cells, also called malignancy. It is a group of 100 different diseases, and is not contagious. Cancer can be treated through chemotherapy, a treatment of drugs that destroy cancer cells.Cancer Risk Factors and Causes
Though it's difficult to say why some people develop cancer while others don't, research shows that certain risk factors increase a person's odds of developing cancer. These risk factors include growing older, family history of cancer, diet, alcohol and tobacco use, and exposure to sunlight, ionizing radiation, certain chemicals, and some viruses and bacteria.Top Cancer-Fighting Foods
Experts have praised certain foods for their ability to reduce cancer risks. Learn which foods and eating strategies may help reduce your risk of developing cancer.Cancer Quiz
Take this quiz to learn the causes of cancer. Get the facts about the causes, symptoms, and treatments for the world's most common cancers.What Conditions Do You Need a Bone Marrow Transplant for?
Diseases of the marrow and blood can be debilitating or fatal, but for certain diseases, a treatment method is to implant some healthy bone marrow from a genetically compatible donor into a patient in the hope it will grow and replace the diseased marrow. Often, the patient’s own cancerous marrow is destroyed prior to restoring the patient’s marrow with the new healthy donor cells.Cancer: Does This Cause Cancer?
Everything gives you cancer, right? Not really. WebMD's slide show tells you about the research into cancer and cell phones, X-rays, plastic bottles, coffee, and more.What Are the Early Warning Signs of Pancreatic Cancer?
Pancreatic cancer does not show its signs and symptoms in its early stages. Only when it has grown large enough, it begins to exhibit its warning signs and symptoms. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin), belly or back pain, unintended weight loss, poor appetite, nausea and vomiting, enlarged gallbladder or liver, deep vein thrombosis or DVT (blood clots in a large vein, usually in the leg), and diabetes.Everyday Habits to Lower Breast Cancer Risk
Concerned about your breast cancer risk? Here are everyday health habits you can adopt to improve your odds.What Foods Destroy Cancer Cells?
Eating a diverse range of healthy meals can help lower your risk of cancer. Certain foods contain beneficial components that may aid in cancer prevention.What Is the Most Survivable Cancer?
Most of the cancers, if diagnosed and treated in early stages, are definitely survivable. Higher survival rates are largely because of several factors including not only early detection but also better treatment approaches.What Is the #1 Cause of Pancreatic Cancer?
Pancreatic cancer occurs when cells begin to grow uncontrollably and form tumors within the pancreas. The exact cause of pancreatic cancer is unknown. However, doctors have identified some risk factors that increase your chances of developing pancreatic cancer. These include being over 45 years old, male gender, African American race, cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, regular consumption of high dietary fats, obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, family history of pancreatic cancer, and heavy exposure to certain chemicals used in the dry cleaning and metalworking industries.Which Cancer Is the Most Painful?
Cancer spreading to the bone is the most painful type of cancer. Pain can be caused by a tumor pressing on the nerves around the bone. As the tumor size increases, it can release chemicals that irritate the area around the tumor.Will a Chest X-Ray Show Lung Cancer?
When diagnosing lung cancer, chest X-rays do not provide a definitive diagnosis of lung cancers at an early stage (when they are more treatable). Until the lung cancer shows up on a chest X-ray, the tumor is often too far advanced to be cured. Often, many things seen on a chest X-ray turn out to be treatable problems or artifacts.