We present incidence, mortality, and survival statistics to provide a perspective on the patterns of cancer occurrence in the United States population. Estimates of the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths for 1996 are presented according to sex, site, and state. We also present information on cancer and noncancer mortality, the probability of developing cancer at certain ages, and cancer survival in adults and children.
IncidenceBecause no nationwide cancer registry exists, there is no way of knowing exactly how many new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually in the United States. We
Our estimate was calculated assuming constant age-specific rates derived from 1987-1988 SEER data. Because incidence and mortality rates change over time, conditional risk estimates over the short term (10 or 20 years) may be more reliable. A large portion of the rise in the lifetime risk of breast cancer estimated using 1975-1977 data (one in 10.6) to an estimate using 1987-1988 data (one in eight) may be attributed to 1) early detection of prevalent cases due to increased use of mammographic screening and 2) lower mortality due to causes other than breast cancer. A common misperception is that the lifetime risk estimate assumes that all women live to a particular age (e.g., 85 or 95). In fact, the calculation assumes that women can die from causes other than breast cancer at any possible age. Cutting off the lifetime risk calculation at age 85 assumes that no women develop breast cancer after that age. While the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer rose over the period 1976-1977 to 1987-1988, the lifetime risk of dying of breast cancer increased from one in 30 to one in 28, reflecting generally flat mortality trends.
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