Recinda L. Sherman, MPH, PhD, ODS-C

Overall deaths from cancer over the past 2 decades have steadily declined in both men and women in the United States, according to the 2024 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, which was published by Recinda L. Sherman, MPH, PhD, ODS-C, of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR), Springfield, Illinois, and colleagues in the journal Cancer.¹ The report also finds that, although the incidence of cancer in men decreased from 2001 to 2013 and then stabilized through 2021, among women, overall cancer incidence rates increased slightly every year from 2003 through 2021. 

Incidence rates are declining in White children; increasing among non-Hispanic or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic children; and remaining stable in Black children. Similarly, although cancer incidence rates are declining among White adolescents and young adults (AYAs), they are increasing by 1.6% to 2.5% per year among non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic AYAs and remaining stable among Black AYAs.

This year’s report also includes an analysis of cancer incidence rates in the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic in individual states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The findings show that the incidence of cancer declined sharply in 2020 similarly across all states, presumably because of pandemic-related disruptions in health care, but returned to prepandemic levels by 2021. The researchers noted that their findings underscore the importance of providing access to health care, even during public health emergencies, to ensure the timely diagnosis of cancer.

Study Methodology and Results

Issued jointly by the American Cancer Society, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NAACCR, and National Cancer Institute (NCI), the report used the NAACCR CiNA (Cancer in North America) data for cancer incidence. The CiNA data set comprises data from population-based cancer registries funded by the CDC and NCI, as well as Canadian registries, and it is compiled by the NAACCR.

According to the report, overall cancer incidence rates per 100,000 standard population were 500 among males and 437 among females. Excluding 2020, cancer incidence rates were found to remain stable from 2013 to 2021 among males and increase by an average of 0.3% per year from 2003 to 2021 among females. The overall cancer death rate per 100,000 was 173 among males and 126 among females.

In addition, cancer mortality rates decreased by 1.5% per year from 2018 to 2022, slowing from a previous decline of 2.1%. Cancer incidence declined in 2020 from prepandemic levels for all demographic groups examined by the researchers. However, the magnitude of decline was not strongly associated with the study’s proxies for health-care capacity, health-care access, or COVID-19 policies, according to the report.

Additional Highlights

Here are additional highlights from the 2024 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer:

For both men and women, the overall cancer incidence rate during the 4-year period of 2017–2019/2021 was highest among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native individuals, followed by White individuals, and then Black individuals. Individuals of Hispanic heritage had a comparatively lower overall cancer incidence rate; the rate was lowest among non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander individuals. Overall cancer incidence rates were higher among males than females of every race and ethnicity, except in non-Hispanic or Pacific Islander individuals (305.5 vs 318.6 per 100,000). For all cancers combined, by sex, incidence rates were highest among Black males and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native females.

Among males, incidence rates increased for cancers of the prostate, pancreas, oral cavity and pharynx, kidneys and renal pelvis, and testes, as well as for multiple myeloma. The steepest declining trend among males was for lung and laryngeal cancers, followed by colorectal and bladder cancers.

Incidence rates among females increased for cancers of the stomach, liver and intrahepatic bile duct, breast, pancreas, corpus and uterus not otherwise specified, and oral cavity and pharynx, as well as for melanoma of the skin and multiple myeloma, and were stable for leukemia and cancers of the kidneys and renal pelvis. They decreased for brain and other central nervous system cancers, as well as for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and cancers of the cervix, colon and rectum, urinary bladder, ovaries, thyroid, and lung and bronchus.

Conclusion

“Overall, cancer incidence and death rates continue to decline, representing changes in risk factors, increases in screening utilization, and advances in treatment. However, sustained disparities by race and ethnicity emphasize the need to fully understand the factors that create these differences so they can be mitigated. Population-based incidence and mortality data play a vital role in informing cancer control efforts to help reduce the cancer burden in the United States,” concluded the study authors. 

DISCLOSURE: This work was funded by the NCI, CDC, American Cancer Society, and NAACCR. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.

REFERENCE

1. Sherman RL, Firth AU, Henley J, et al: Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, featuring state-level statistics after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cancer 131:e35833, 2025.