Cancer Incidence Statistics

A cancer incidence rate is the number of new cancers of a specific site/type occurring in a specified population during a year, usually expressed as the number of cancers per 100,000 population at risk. That is,

Incidence rate = (New cancers / Population) × 100,000

The numerator of the incidence rate is the number of new cancers; the denominator is the size of the population. The number of new cancers may include multiple primary cancers occurring in one patient. The primary site reported is the site of origin and not the metastatic site. In general, the incidence rate would not include recurrences. The population used depends on the rate to be calculated. For cancer sites that occur in only one sex, the sex-specific population (e.g., females for cervical cancer) is used.

An age-adjusted rate is a weighted average of the age-specific rates, where the weights are the proportions of persons in the corresponding age groups of a standard population. The potential confounding effect of age is reduced when comparing age-adjusted rates computed using the same standard population.

Reports and Monographs

Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer provides an update on the trends in cancer incidence and death rates in the United States.

Cancer Stat Facts are a collection of statistical summaries for a number of common cancer types. They were developed to provide a quick overview of frequently-requested cancer statistics.

Interactive Tools for Accessing Precalculated Incidence Statistics

SEER*Explorer is an interactive website that provides easy access to a wide range of SEER cancer statistics. It provides detailed statistics for a cancer site by sex, race, calendar year, age, and for a selected number of cancer sites, by stage and histology.

National Childhood Cancer Registry Explorer provides incidence and survival statistics for cancers in children and adolescent and young adults ages 0-39, using data from the National Childhood Cancer Registry (NCCR).

State Cancer Profiles is a comprehensive system enabling the investigation of cancer trends at the national, state, and county level.

CI*Rank presents ranked, age-adjusted cancer incidence and mortality rates by state, county, and special region in the US. The site also presents confidence intervals for those ranks. Ranked, age-adjusted US mortality rates for other causes of death are also provided, along with the confidence intervals.

Cancer Query Systems: SEER Incidence Statistics is a Web-based program that allows you to select statistics by defining various parameters.

US Cancer Statistics: Data Visualizations are the official federal statistics on cancer incidence and deaths, produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).