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, published today by Sherman et al in Cancer. The report also found that although the incidence of cancer decreased from 2001 to 2013 and then stabilized in men through 2021, among women, overall cancer incidence rates increased slightly every year from 2003 through 2021. And although cancer incidence rates are declining in White children, they are increasing among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic children and are remaining stable in Black children. Similarly, cancer incidence rates among White adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are declining, but they are increasing by 1.6% to 2.5% per year among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic AYAs; again they remain stable among Black AYAs.
This year’s report also includes an analysis of the impact on 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 cancer incidence declined sharply in 2020 similarly across all states, presumably because of the pandemic-related disruptions in health care, but they returned to prepandemic levels by 2021. The researchers noted that these findings underscore the importance of providing access to health care—even during public health emergencies—to ensure the timely diagnosis of cancer.
Study Methodology
Issued jointly by the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the report’s cancer incidence data were obtained from population-based cancer registries funded by the CDC and NCI and compiled by NAACCR. Cancer mortality data were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Vital Statistics System.
Incidence and Mortality Trends
According to the report, overall cancer incidence rates per 100,000 standard population were 500 among males and 437 among females. Among males, cancer incidence rates remained stable from 2013 to 2021; among females, they increased by 0.3% per year on average from 2003 to 2021.
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% per year. 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’s authors.
Additional Findings
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 to 2019 and 2021 was highest among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native individuals, followed by White individuals, and then Black individuals. Individuals of Hispanic heritage had comparatively lower overall cancer incidence rates, and rates were lowest among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander individuals. Overall cancer incidence rates were higher among males than among females of every race and ethnicity except non-Hispanic/Pacific Islander individuals, among whom the rate was higher in females (318.6 vs 305.5 per 100,000). For all cancers combined, by sex, incidence rates were highest among Black males and among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native females.
- Among males, incidence rates increased for prostate, pancreatic, oropharyngeal, kidney and renal pelvis, and testicular cancer, as well as multiple myeloma. The steepest declining trend among males was for lung and laryngeal cancers, followed by colorectal and bladder cancers.
- Among females, cancer incidence rates increased for stomach, liver and intrahepatic bile duct, cutaneous melanoma, breast, pancreatic, corpus and uterine–not otherwise specified, and oropharyngeal cancers, as well as multiple myeloma; incidence rates for leukemia and kidney and renal pelvis cancers were stable. Incidence rates decreased for brain and other nervous system cancers, as well as cervical, colorectal, urinary bladder, ovarian, thyroid, and lung and bronchus cancers, as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Conclusions
“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 that 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 report’s authors.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
