1 Introduction

Approximately 40% of all US men and women will contract some form of cancer during their life time. Of that 40%, many of those will perish as a result of cancer for it is the second leading cause of death in the United States. This report aims to investigate cancer death rates in the United States from 2016 to 2019. We will investigate which variables factor into cancer death rates through the use of data exploration and fitting regression models. We aim to explain what factors, whether they are health or demographic, factor most into the cancer death rate and how these rates differ from state to state. Thus, by investigating the factors that directly contribute to higher cancer death rates, we hope to be able to produce suggestions on how to potentially decrease or even mitigate the number of deaths caused by cancer.