Cook notes what many Americans may know by now which is that smoking and diet choices contribute to many of the nation's top leading causes of death, including those here in Washington like cancer, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory illnesses.

SEATTLE - Researchers found cancer to be the number one killer in Washington state. We look at what other diseases impact area residents the most.

A team at U.S. Career Institute says they found 13,432 deaths related to cancer across the state.

Back in September, Seattle-area survivors and advocates urged congress to make cancer a higher priority in their policymaking. Also, local residents recently rallied behind legendary Washington travel expert Rick Steves's prostate cancer battle.

To find the top five causes of death, they conducted a study using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Coming in at No. 2 is heart disease, contributing to a similar number of deaths caused by cancer. In total there were 13,218 deaths traced to the disease, according to U.S. Career Institute.

The number of deaths drops dramatically with the rest of the list, which goes as follows:

No. 3: Alzheimer's (3,695 deaths)
No. 4: Stroke (3,339 deaths)
No. 5: Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease (2,925 deaths)

"Illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer can be unpredictable and not always the result of poor lifestyle choices, but there are many ways to reduce your risk of developing a life-threatening illness,"  says Holly Cook, VP of Marketing at U.S. Career Institute.

Cook notes what many Americans know now, which is that smoking and diet choices contribute to many of the nation's top leading causes of death, including those prevalent here in Washington like cancer, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory illnesses.