Cancer Rates Stable in American Men, Up in American Women
Michelle Milliken
The latest cancer statistics in the United States are out, and there’s good news and bad news.
According to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the State of Cancer – put together by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, cancer death rates are on the downswing, averaging a 1.5% percent decline between 2018 and 2022, a bit lower than the prior rate of 2.1%. In all, the most recent cancer death rates for women were 126 per 100,000 and 173 per 100,000 among men.
The study authors note that the lower rates are largely due to declines in the incidence of – and death from – lung and other smoking-related cancers. Lung cancer incidence and deaths are down in both men and women, but the incidence of obesity-related cancers has been increasing. That includes female breast, uterus, colorectal, pancreas, kidney, and liver. While breast cancer rates have been increasing, death rates have been decreasing, though.
There were also differences among demographic groups. Between 2001 and 2013, cancer incidence was down in men. It has stabilized in the years since. For women, on the other hand, incidence increased each year by an average of 0.3% between 2003 and 2021. This was not true in 2020, but the authors say that is related to the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption to health care.
There was good news across the board for racial and ethnic groups, though. Cancer deaths decreased in each major racial and ethnic group between 2018 and 2022. Men in each of these groups also saw stable incidence rates. However, for women, the incidence rate was again up for each group between 2017 and 2021.
The highest incidence rate in men was in the non-Hispanic Black community, while the highest rate among women was in the American Indian and Alaska Native population.
Among younger Americans, cancer rates for children decreased across the study period. For teens and young adults, the period began with decreases but was stable by the end.
If you’d like to read more, the study is published in the journal Cancer. To support cancer research, click here!
