Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2014

Questions and Answers about the Annual Report to the Nation [PDF-129KB]

Overall cancer death rates continue to decrease in men, women, and children for all major racial and ethnic groups, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2014. The report finds that death rates during the period 2010–2014 decreased for 11 of the 16 most common types of cancer in men and for 13 of the 18 most common types of cancer in women, including lung, colorectal, female breast, and prostate cancers. Meanwhile, death rates increased for cancers of the liver, pancreas, and brain in men and for liver and uterine cancer in women. The report finds overall cancer incidence rates, or rates of new cancers, decreased in men but stabilized in women during the period 1999–2013.

The Report to the Nation is released each year in a collaborative effort by the American Cancer Society, CDC, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.

Special Feature: Survival

Compared to cases diagnosed in 1975–1977, five-year survival for cancers diagnosed in 2006–2012 increased significantly for all but two types of cancer: cervix and uterus. The greatest absolute increases in survival (25% or greater) were seen in prostate and kidney cancers as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, and leukemia.

Cancers with the lowest five-year relative survival for cases diagnosed in 2006–2012 were pancreas (8.5%), liver (18.1%), lung (18.7%), esophagus (20.5%), stomach (31.1%) and brain (35%); those with the highest were prostate (99.3%), thyroid (98.3%), melanoma (93.2%) and female breast (90.8%).