STEPTRACKERCROSS-SYSTEM | PATHOLOGY + EPIDEMIOLOGY | RAPID-FIRE REVIEW

Most-Common Lists

The "most common" answers the exam asks for, organ by organ and by age — each linked back to its full page.

FOCUS ON
In almost every organ, metastases beat primary cancers (brain, lung, liver, bone, adrenal). Know the most common benign and malignant primary for each organ, and separate children (leukemia, CNS, neuroblastoma) from adults (incidence: prostate/breast; deaths: lung).
ORGAN
MOST COMMON BENIGN
MOST COMMON MALIGNANT (PRIMARY)
NOTE · PAGE
Brain — adult
Meningioma
Glioblastoma
Metastases overall · 16.11
Brain — child
Pilocytic astrocytoma
Medulloblastoma
Infratentorial · 16.12
Lung
Hamartoma
Adenocarcinoma
Metastases overall · 9.10
Heart
Myxoma (adult) · rhabdomyoma (child)
Angiosarcoma (rare)
Metastases overall · 8.10
Liver
Cavernous hemangioma
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Metastases (colon) overall · 11.10
Bone
Osteochondroma
Osteosarcoma (myeloma if counted)
Metastases overall · 17.05
Soft tissue
Lipoma
Adult: liposarcoma/UPS · child: rhabdomyosarcoma
Breast
Fibroadenoma
Invasive ductal carcinoma
Ovary
Serous cystadenoma · mature teratoma (young)
High-grade serous carcinoma
Uterus
Leiomyoma
Endometrioid carcinoma
Most common gyn cancer in US · 13.03
Kidney
Oncocytoma, angiomyolipoma
Adult: clear cell RCC · child: Wilms
Bladder
Urothelial papilloma
Urothelial carcinoma
SCC with Schistosoma · 12.12
Testis
—
Seminoma (15–35) · lymphoma (> 60)
Thyroid
Follicular adenoma
Papillary carcinoma
Salivary gland
Pleomorphic adenoma
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma
Esophagus
Leiomyoma
Adenocarcinoma (US) · SCC (worldwide)
Stomach & GI wall
Hyperplastic polyp
Adenocarcinoma · GIST (mesenchymal)
Skin
Seborrheic keratosis
Basal cell carcinoma
Melanoma kills most · 18.05

Cancer by age

GROUP
MOST COMMON
NEXT
Children
Leukemia (ALL)
CNS tumors, neuroblastoma, Wilms, lymphoma
Teens / young adults
Lymphoma, thyroid, testicular
Melanoma, bone sarcomas
Adult men (incidence)
Prostate
Lung, colorectal
Adult women (incidence)
Breast
Lung, colorectal
Cancer deaths (both)
Lung
Colorectal; prostate/breast, pancreas
Extracranial solid (infant)
Neuroblastoma
Wilms

"Most common cause of…"

QUESTION
ANSWER
Hypercalcemia — outpatient / inpatient
Primary hyperparathyroidism / malignancy
Hypothyroidism — US / worldwide
Hashimoto / iodine deficiency
Cushing syndrome
Exogenous glucocorticoids
Nephrotic syndrome — child
Minimal change disease
Lower GI bleed — older adult
Diverticulosis
Death in diabetes and CKD
Cardiovascular disease
Small bowel obstruction
Adhesions
Osteomyelitis
S aureus

How it's tested

COMMON CONFUSION"Most common tumor" of an organ (often metastasis) vs "most common primary tumor" vs "most common malignant primary." Read the question word by word.
THE TRAPIncidence and mortality differ: prostate and breast cancers are most common, but lung cancer kills the most men and women.
YOUR APPROACHOrgan → age group → benign or malignant → primary or overall → then confirm with one distinguishing clue from the vignette.

If you see… think…

Multiple masses in brain, lung or liver → metastases
Most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults → glioblastoma
Most common cancer in children → acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Most common primary cardiac tumor in adults / children → myxoma / rhabdomyoma
Most common benign liver tumor → cavernous hemangioma
Most common tumor in women → leiomyoma
Most common salivary tumor → pleomorphic adenoma
Most common thyroid cancer → papillary carcinoma
Most common skin cancer → basal cell carcinoma
Leading cause of cancer death → lung cancer