U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool

Map of the United States as seen in the U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool showing rates of new cancers.

The U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations tool displays the official federal statistics on cancer incidence (newly diagnosed cases) from each central cancer registry meeting data quality criteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) combine their cancer incidence data sources to produce these statistics. Mortality data are from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS).

This tool provides incidence and death counts, rates, stage distribution, and trend data; survival and prevalence estimates; and state-, county-, and congressional district data in a user-driven format. Additional modules provide data for cancers associated with selected risk factors, cancer screening and risk factor data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, human papillomavirus vaccination coverage data collected through the National Immunization Survey-Teen (NIS-Teen), and incidence data for American Indian and Alaska Native populations living in Indian Health Service purchased/referred care delivery areas. Users can display the output in tables, graphic files, and shareable formats designed for email and social media. The data presented include cancer cases diagnosed and cancer deaths occurring from 1999 to 2019, for the most recent 5 years combined (2015 to 2019), and for 2019, which is the most recent year that incidence data are available.

What data does the U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations tool contain?

It includes incidence data on more than 1.75 million cases of invasive cancer diagnosed each year. The population coverage may vary due to suppression (for example, if 16 or fewer incidence cases were reported or if the state requested suppression), or if a state did not meet our publication criteria. For the most recent release, data from 99% of the U.S. population are displayed for cancer cases diagnosed in 2019 alone and the most recent 5 years combined (2015 to 2019). Cancer incidence data are not available from Nevada for 2018 and 2019 during these two time periods.

The tool also includes malignant cancer mortality data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia as recorded in the National Vital Statistics System. Mortality data are available for 100% of the U.S. population.

Cancer incidence and mortality trend data are presented from 1999 through 2019. The most recent year that incidence data are available is 2019. Cancer mortality data for 2020 are available and can be accessed at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS).

The tool also presents survival and prevalence estimates, which are based on CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) data covering 88% of the U.S. population.

What are the sources of the data?

Information on newly diagnosed cancer cases is based on data collected by registries in CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Together, the two federal programs collect cancer incidence data for the entire U.S. population. These data can be used to monitor cancer trends over time, determine cancer patterns in various populations, guide planning and evaluation of cancer control programs, help set priorities for allocating health resources, and provide information for a national database of cancer incidence. Information on cancer deaths is collected by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS).

Cancer incidence and death rates are presented by race and ethnicity. What cautions should be used in interpreting differences by race and ethnicity?

Use caution when interpreting differences in rates among racial and ethnic (Hispanic origin) populations. A study using SEER data suggests that the quality of race data in cancer registries is considered excellent for White, Black, Asian, and Pacific Islander people, and substantial for Hispanic people, while data for American Indian and Alaska Native people has been shown to be considerably underreported. A study involving cancer mortality data shows that death rates for White and Black people are generally reliable, whereas death rates for Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic people are underestimated.

Therefore, incidence and/or mortality data in the Data Visualizations tool may be underestimated for Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic people, possibly due to racial and Hispanic origin misclassification. NCHS is working with states to improve the reporting of race and ethnicity on death certificates.

To better represent U.S. populations and to improve racial classification in the U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations tool, data are restricted to non-Hispanic people for White, Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, and American Indian and Alaska Native people.

To further improve the accuracy of cancer burden estimates among the American Indian and Alaska Native population, the following methods have been applied to U.S. Cancer Statistics data in the Data Visualizations tool—

The data presented in the tool have been linked with Indian Health Service (IHS) administrative records to improve the race classification.
The data presented in the tool’s American Indian and Alaska Native restricted to PRCDA only module have additionally been restricted to IHS Purchased/Referred Care Delivery Areas (PRCDA) and to non-Hispanic populations.

Grouping racial or Hispanic origin subpopulations into one racial or Hispanic origin population can mask differences in subpopulations. Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic people are not homogeneous groups. The subpopulations are grouped into single populations because of small numbers or concerns regarding the possible misclassification of race and Hispanic origin among the subpopulations. Cancer rates by more detailed categories of race have been published.^1–3

Additional information is available in the Data Visualizations tool’s Technical Notes, Interpreting Race and Ethnicity in Cancer Data.

Estimated cancer incidence and death counts and rates are presented by congressional districts. What cautions can be used in interpreting these estimates?

The cancer incidence and death counts and rates presented in the Congressional District Estimates tab were calculated using county-level data because direct measures on congressional district-level data are not available.

Since the congressional district estimates were calculated using county-level data, if any county-level data are missing, then the overall state counts presented in the Congressional District Estimates tab will not match the counts in the U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations tool’s At a Glance and State and County tabs. Instead, the counts in the Congressional District Estimates tab will match the state counts calculated by aggregating across the county-level case counts.

In addition, please be mindful that these are estimated counts and rates, and they are not meant to be compared across congressional districts.

Whom can I contact for questions about the U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations tool?

Please e-mail U.S. Cancer Statistics staff at uscsdata@cdc.gov.

Suggested Citation

U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool, based on 2021 submission data (1999–2019): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; www.cdc.gov/cancer/dataviz, released in November 2022.

References

¹Thompson CA, Gomez SL, Hastings KG, Kapphahn K, Yu P, Shariff-Marco S, Bhatt AS, Wakelee HA, Patel MI, Cullen MR, Palaniappan LP. The burden of cancer in Asian Americans: a report of national mortality trends by Asian ethnicity. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention 2016;25(10):1371–1382. DOI: 0.1158/1055-9965.EPI-16-0167.

²Liu L, Noone AM, Gomez SL, Scoppa S, Gibson JT, Lichtensztajn D, Fish K, Wilkens LR, Goodman MT, Morris C, Kwong S, Deapen D, Miller BA. Cancer incidence trends among native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in the U.S., 1990–2008. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2013;105(15):1086–1095. DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djt156.

³Gomez SL, Noone AM, Lichtensztajn DY, Scoppa S, Gibson JT, Liu L, Morris C, Kwong S, Fish K, Wilkens LR, Goodman MT, Deapen D, Miller BA. Cancer incidence trends among Asian American populations in the United States, 1990–2008. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2013;105:1096–1110. DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djt157.

Download Data Tables

Download pre-analyzed data tables from the Data Visualizations tool or the U.S. Cancer Statistics Web-based Report in delimited ASCII format.