Invasive cancer incidence - United States, 2010

Abstract

Cancer has many causes, some of which can, at least in part, be avoided through interventions known to reduce cancer risk. Healthy People 2020 objectives call for reducing colorectal cancer incidence to 38.6 per 100,000 persons, reducing late-stage breast cancer incidence to 41.0 per 100,000 women, and reducing cervical cancer incidence to 7.1 per 100,000 women. To assess progress toward reaching these Healthy People 2020 targets, CDC analyzed data from U.S. Cancer Statistics (USCS) for 2010. USCS includes incidence data from CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program and mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. In 2010, a total of 1,456,496 invasive cancers were reported to cancer registries in the United States (excluding Arkansas and Minnesota), an annual incidence rate of 446 cases per 100,000 persons, compared with 459 in 2009. Cancer incidence rates were higher among men (503) than women (405), highest among blacks (455), and ranged by state from 380 to 511 per 100,000 persons. Many factors, including tobacco use, obesity, insufficient physical activity, and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, contribute to the risk for developing cancer, and differences in cancer incidence indicate differences in the prevalence of these risk factors. These differences can be reduced through policy approaches such as the Affordable Care Act, which could increase access for millions of persons to appropriate and timely cancer preventive services, including help with smoking cessation, cancer screening, and vaccination against HPV.

FIGURE 1

Rate^* of invasive cancer for 10 primary sites with the highest rates within racial/ethnic groups,^† by sex — National Program of Cancer Registries and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program, United States, 2010^§ Abbreviation: NOS = not otherwise specified. ^* Per 100,000 persons, age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population. ^† Racial categories are not mutually exclusive from Hispanic ethnicity. Rates are not presented for cases with unknown or other race. ^§ Compiled from cancer registries that meet the data quality criteria for all invasive cancer sites combined (covering approximately 97% of the U.S. population). Excludes basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin except when these occur on the skin of the genital organs, and in situ cancers other than urinary bladder.

FIGURE 2

Rate^* of invasive cancer, by primary cancer site — National Program of Cancer Registries and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program, United States, 2010 ^* Per 100,000 persons, age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population.