Overall cancer mortality rates decreased for men, women and children in the U.S. between 2018 and 2022, according to the National Cancer Institute’s “Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer,” published April 21 in Cancer.
The report presents cancer incidence and mortality data collected from NCI and CDC population-based cancer registries, as well as from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Vital Statistics System, according to an April 21 news release from the NCI.
Here are nine notes from the report:
- Between 2018 and 2022, cancer mortality decreased an average of 1.7% per year for men and 1.3% per year for women.
Between 2001 and 2022, cancer mortality decreased 1.5% per year for children.
For adolescents and young adults, cancer death rates decreased by 2.9% per year between 2001 and 2005, by 1% per year between 2005 and 2020, and remained stable from 2020 to 2022. - For men, cancer mortality rates decreased for the following cancers between 2018 and 2022: prostate, liver and intrahepatic bile duct, esophagus, melanoma of the skin, kidney and renal pelvis, urinary bladder, colon and rectum, leukemia, myeloma, stomach, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and lung and bronchus.
Mortality rates increased for the following cancers: pancreas, bones and joints, oral cavity and pharynx, and non-melanoma skin cancer. - For women, cancer mortality rates decreased for the following cancers between 2018 and 2022: brain and other nervous system, cervix, soft tissue including heart, urinary bladder, kidney and renal pelvis, breast, stomach, leukemia, colon and rectum, myeloma, gallbladder, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovary, and lung and bronchus.
Mortality rates increased for the following cancers: oral cavity and pharynx, corpus and uterus, and liver and intrahepatic bile duct. - Mortality rates from lung and bronchus cancers dropped the fastest for adults between 2018 and 2022, at 4.5% each year for men and 3.4% for women.
- Between 2001 and 2013, new cancer diagnoses among men decreased by 1.6% to 2.2% per year and remained stable between 2013 and 2021.
For men, new cancer incidence rates decreased for the following cancers between 2017 and 2021: brain and other nervous system, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, colon and rectum, thyroid, urinary bladder, larynx, and lung and bronchus.
Incidence rates increased for prostate, pancreas, oral cavity and pharynx, kidney and renal pelvis, myeloma, and testis cancers, and remained stable for stomach, melanoma of the skin, esophagus, leukemia, and liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancers. - Between 2003 and 2021, new cancer diagnoses among women increased by 0.3% each year.
For women, new cancer incidence rates decreased for the following cancers between 2017 and 2021: brain and other nervous system, cervix, colon and rectum, urinary bladder, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovary, thyroid, and lung and bronchus.
Incidence rates increased for stomach, liver and intrahepatic bile duct, melanoma of the skin, breast, myeloma, pancreas, corpus and uterus, and oral cavity and pharynx cancers, and remained stable for kidney and renal pelvis cancer and leukemia cancers. - Incidence rates of new lung and bronchus cancers dropped the fastest for adults at 3.4% per year among men and 2.1% among women.
Prostate cancer incidence increased the most for men at 2.9% each year while stomach cancer incidence increased the most for women at 3.2% each year. - Between 2017 and 2021, new cancer diagnoses decreased 0.8% per year for children but did not change for adolescents and young adults.
The most common cancers among children were leukemia, brain and other nervous system, and lymphoma.
The most common cancer among adolescents and young adults was female breast cancer, followed by cancers of the thyroid and testis. - New cancer diagnoses were 8% lower than expected in 2020 due to the COVID-19, though rates returned to expected levels in 2021.
Rates of late-stage cancer diagnoses across all sites increased slightly in 2020 before decreasing slightly in 2021.
Late-stage diagnoses of cervical cancer saw an increase from around 52% and 53.4% between 2017 and 2019 to 57.4% and 57.7% in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Read the full report here.