U.S. Cancer Statistics: Highlights from 2016 Incidence

Each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) produce updated U.S. Cancer Statistics data. These data are the official federal cancer statistics for the United States. The U.S. Cancer Statistics provides cancer information on the entire US population. Information about new cancer cases (incidence) comes from CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. The latest data release includes cancers diagnosed through 2016.

• In 2016, a total of 1,658,716 new cancer cases were reported in the United States: 833,308 among males and 825,408 among females.
• The overall incidence rate was 436 per 100,000 people. The overall rate was 471 per 100,000 among males and 413 per 100,000 among females.
• By cancer sites, the highest incidence rates among males were prostate, lung and bronchus, and colon and rectum. Among females, the three leading sites—breast, lung and bronchus, and colon and rectum—accounted for half of cancers diagnosed among females in 2016 (Table 1).

Source: High-quality data from cancer registries funded by NPCR and SEER, covering 100% of the US population.

^aRates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population (19 age groups – Census P25–1130).

^bPercentage based on all invasive cancers by sex (total invasive cancers for males or females).

^cExcludes basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin except when these occur on the skin of the genital organs and in situ cancers except urinary bladder.

^dNOS – not otherwise specified.

Some risk factors increase the risk of cancer at multiple cancer sites. For example, strong evidence suggests that physical activity reduces the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, endometrium cancer, and colon cancer. Because cancer registries do not routinely collect information about risk factors, cancer types associated with alcohol use, human papillomavirus infection (HPV), obesity, physical inactivity, and tobacco use were analyzed (Figure 1).

For females, obesity-associated cancers were the highest of the five risk factor-associated cancer groups among all racial groups and Hispanics. For males, tobacco- and obesity-associated cancers were the leading groups among the five risk factor-associated cancers among all races and Hispanic people (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Invasive Cancer^a Incidence Rates^b for Five Risk Factor-Associated Cancer Groups,^c by Racial and Ethnic Groups^d and Sex—United States, 2016

A. Males

B. Females

Source: High-quality data from cancer registries funded by NPCR and SEER, covering 100% of the US population.

^aExcludes basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin except when these occur on the skin of the genital organs and in situ cancers except urinary bladder.

^bRates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population (19 age groups – Census P25–1130).

^cAlcohol-associated cancers include oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, colon and rectum, liver, larynx, and female breast. HPV-associated cancers include microscopically confirmed carcinoma of the cervix and squamous cell carcinomas of the vagina, vulva, penis, anus, rectum, and oropharynx. Obesity-associated cancers include adenocarcinoma of the esophagus; cancers of the breast (in postmenopausal women), colon and rectum, endometrium (corpus uterus), gallbladder, gastric cardia, kidney (renal cell), liver, ovary, pancreas, and thyroid; meningioma, and multiple myeloma. Physical inactivity-associated cancers include breast cancer in postmenopausal women, endometrium (corpus uterus) cancer, and colon cancer. Tobacco-associated cancers include oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus; stomach; colon and rectum; liver; pancreas; larynx; lung, bronchus, and trachea; cervix; kidney and renal pelvis; urinary bladder; and acute myeloid leukemia.

^dRace categories are not mutually exclusive from Hispanic origin.

The overall cancer incidence rate among American Indian and Alaska Native people living in Indian Health Service (IHS) Purchased/Referred Care Delivery Areas (PRCDA) counties was similar to rates among non-Hispanic White people living in PRCDA counties in the United States. Variations were seen in the Alaska, East, Northern Plains, Southern Plains, and Southwest IHS regions (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Invasive Cancer^a Incidence Rates^b by Indian Health Service Region, All Cancer Sites Combined—United States, 2012–2016

^aExcludes basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin except when these occur on the skin of the genital organs and in situ cancers except urinary bladder.

^bRates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population (19 age groups – Census P25–1130). Data for American Indian and Alaska Native people are restricted to non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people living in IHS Purchase/Referred Care Delivery Area (PRCDA) counties. Non-Hispanic White people living in PRCDA counties are presented for comparison.

Delve into U.S. Cancer Statistics Further

The Data Visualizations tool makes it easy for anyone to explore and use the latest cancer data.

You can use this tool to create interactive graphics examining—

• New cancer cases.
• Cancer deaths by—
  • State, county, and Congressional district.
  • Sex, age, race, and ethnicity.

Researchers can analyze incidence data from the entire United States with the Public Use Database, available through SEER*Stat software.