Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. It is "a random process that can happen to any of us," says Dr. Nicholas DeVito, an oncologist at Duke Cancer Institute. In 2025, more than 2 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 618,120 people will die from the disease. In North Carolina, cancer is the second leading cause of death, following heart disease.