Final answer:
Basal cell carcinoma is the most common cancer overall, primarily due to skin cancer cases. Excluding skin cancers, prostate and breast cancers are the most common in males and females respectively, with lung cancer being second for both. Lung cancer, however, is the leading cause of cancer deaths.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most common type of cancer is basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. Skin cancers like basal cell carcinoma and melanoma account for about 40% of all cancer cases. However, when excluding skin cancers, the most common types of cancer vary between genders. In adult males, the most common type of cancer is prostate cancer, making up about one-third of all cancers in men. For adult females, breast cancer is the most prevalent, also constituting about one-third of all cases in women. Lung cancer is the second most common for both men and women. It's important to note that while skin cancers have the highest occurrence, they are not the leading cause of cancer deaths. That grim statistic goes to lung cancer, which represents 31% of all cancer deaths in males and 27% in females.