Annual Cases and Deaths
Cancer prevalence is the number of people who have ever been diagnosed with the disease on a certain date. This number includes past and recent diagnoses. On the other hand, yearly cancer incidence is the number of new cancers that occur among a specified population during a year. It is expressed as the number of cancers per 100,000 population at risk.
The National Cancer Institute estimated that in 2020, 1,806,590 new cancer cases would be diagnosed and that 606,520 new deaths from cancer would occur. The rate of new cases of any type of cancer was 442.4 per 100,000 people per year, and the death rate was 155.5 per 100,000 people per year.
The NCI breaks down these statistics to determine which cancers are more common based on incidence and mortality statistics that are reported by the American Cancer Society and other resources. To count as a common cancer, the estimated annual incidence for 2020 had to be 40,000 cases or more.
The most common type of cancer is breast cancer, with 279,100 new cases expected in the United States in 2020, followed by lung cancer and prostate cancer.
Risk by Race/Ethnicity
Cancer affects certain racial and ethnic groups disproportionately, largely because of a lack of access to health care, which results in late diagnoses and inadequate treatment. As a result, there is a higher rate of cancer deaths within these groups. This is known as cancer disparities or cancer health disparities. For example, Black men have a higher incidence of prostate cancer compared with white men, and Black women have a higher incidence of breast cancer than white women.
For men of all races, the death rate was 185.5 per 100,000. For women of all races, it was 113.5 per 100,000.
Deaths by Race/Ethnicity
Certain races and ethnic groups in the United States who are at a disadvantage socially, environmentally, and economically carry the brunt of cancer deaths. Factors that contribute to the high numbers include low health literacy, lack of health insurance, and limited access to care. In general, the probability of a late-stage diagnosis is greater for people who have no access to reliable health care.According to mortality trends within racial and ethnic groups, Black men and women have the highest cancer rates, whereas Asians and Pacific Islanders have the lowest cancer death rates.
A relative survival rate compares the survival rate of people who have a specific disease with that among those who don’t over a time period. It is calculated by dividing the percentage of patients with the disease who are still alive at the end of the period of time by the percentage of people in the general population of the same sex and age who are alive at the end of the same time period.
For each type of cancer, five-year survival rates are used for each stage to determine survival. The SEER program breaks down the stages in the following categories:
In situ: This stage is when cancer has only been found in epithelial tissues. Malignant cells are present but have not penetrated the basement tissue. Localized: At this stage, the malignancy is limited to the organ of origin and has not spread beyond that. Regionalized: The tumor has extended outside the organ of origin. These tumors are hard to categorize, and they can fall into subcategories, such as regional by direct extension; regional to lymph nodes; regional to both direct extension and lymph nodes; and regional, not specified. Distant: The tumor has spread to other areas of the body that’s distant from the organ of origin or remote from the initial tumor, or the tumor has metastasized and have been found in other parts of the body. Unknown: In some cases, there isn’t enough information to assign a stage.
The five-year relative survival rate for lung cancer is 20.5%, but the relative five-year survival rate is different for each stage of lung cancer.
One contributing factor is smoking, which can double the risk of pancreatic cancer. Obesity and type 2 diabetes are to blame as well. Having a body mass index (BMI) between 30 and 35, coupled with diabetes or prediabetes, high blood pressure, and taking cholesterol-lowering medication, significantly increases the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Liver cancer is also on the rise. The most common risk factor for liver cancer is long-term infection with hepatitis B or hepatitis C. Hepatitis infection can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, which is linked to an increased risk of liver cancer.
The role of trending is to identify vulnerable populations in order to direct public health resources. It is also used to track the overall efficacy of health interventions, whether structural or medical.
Trends show that other types of cancers are on the rise. Breast cancer has increased by 0.3% yearly on average from 2008 to 2017. On the other hand, new cases of lung and bronchus cancer have fallen by 2.2% each year from 2008 to 2017, while the rate of new cases for pancreatic cancer has also been increasing.
A Word From Verywell
Rest assured that when you review statistics for cancer, they don’t necessarily indicate your personal risk of cancer. To reduce your risk of cancer, education is key. Learn the signs and symptoms of the most common cancers, and make positive lifestyle changes to reduce your chances of getting cancer if you smoke, eat a poor diet, drink excessive amounts of alcohol, or have a sedentary lifestyle.
Even though it is a biased measure, BMI is still widely used in the medical community because it’s an inexpensive and quick way to analyze a person’s potential health status and outcomes
Never put off screenings just because you have no family history or you’re in excellent health. Get the appropriate screenings and the recommended vaccinations. An early diagnosis is potentially a life-saver with a greater chance of survival.
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