USCS Technical Notes

The Impact of Cancer

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death among Americans. One of every four deaths in the United States is due to cancer.^{1 2} The 2017 United States Cancer Statistics report indicates in 2014 (the most recent year of incidence data available), 1,596,486 Americans received a new diagnosis of invasive cancer† and 591,686 Americans died from this disease.³ These counts do not include in situ cancers or the more than 1 million cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancers. The National Cancer Institute estimated that on January 1, 2014, 14.5 million Americans were alive with a history of invasive cancer.⁴

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) estimated that for 2014, the direct medical costs* for cancer, including all health care expenditures, were $87.3 billion, of which 58.1% was spent on hospital outpatient or office-based provider visits, 27.0% on inpatient hospital stays, and 12.4% on prescription medications.⁵

†Data are from selected statewide and metropolitan area cancer registries, covering approximately 100% of the U.S. population, that meet the data quality criteria for all invasive cancer sites combined. See registry-specific data quality information.

*The estimates of direct costs are obtained from the AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Cancer Prevention

Several effective primary and secondary prevention measures could substantially reduce the number of new cancer cases and prevent many cancer-related deaths. To reduce the nation’s cancer burden, we must reduce behavioral and environmental factors that increase cancer risk and ensure that high-quality screening services and evidence-based treatments are available and accessible to everyone, including medically underserved populations.^{6 7} The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC) have supported all 50 states, D.C., tribes and tribal organizations, Pacific Island Jurisdictions, and Puerto Rico, in developing comprehensive cancer control plans, which include proven strategies and planned actions to prevent cancer in their geographic regions.⁸

How Cancer Data Are Collected

Cancer registries collect population-based data about the occurrence of cancer (incidence), the types of cancer (morphology), the site in the body where the cancer first occurred (primary site), the extent of disease at the time of diagnosis (stage), the planned first course of treatment, and the outcome of treatment and clinical management (survival and vital status).^{9 10} Cancer incidence data are reported to metropolitan area, regional, and statewide cancer registries from a variety of medical facilities, including hospitals, physicians’ offices, radiation facilities, freestanding surgical centers, and pathology laboratories. Death data, including deaths due to cancer, are recorded on death certificates that are sent to state vital statistics offices. Death data include information regarding primary cancer site, and may also include morphology according to International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).

Uses of Cancer Data

Information derived from population-based central cancer registries and from state vital statistics systems is critical for directing effective geographic area or population-specific cancer prevention and control programs that focus on preventing behaviors that put people at increased risk for cancer (such as smoking), and on reducing environmental risk factors (such as occupational exposure to known carcinogens). This information also is essential for deciding which geographic areas should have cancer screening programs, and for making long-term plans for adequate diagnostic and treatment services. Combined data at the national, regional, and state levels help federal and state public health officials establish, prioritize, and monitor national initiatives in public health surveillance and track progress toward the national goals and objectives set forth in Healthy People.

Additional resource: Archive of the Annual Reports to the Nation

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Burden of Chronic Diseases and Their Risk Factors: National and State Perspectives 2004. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2005.
2. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2017. Atlanta (GA): American Cancer Society; 2017.
3. U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2014 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; 2017.
4. Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, Miller D, Bishop K, Kosary CL, Yu M, Ruhl J, Tatalovich Z, Mariotto A, Lewis DR, Chen HS, Feuer EJ, Cronin KA (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975–2014, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2014/, based on November 2016 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER website, April 2017.
5. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Table 3: Total Expenses and Percent Distribution for Selected Conditions by Type of Service: United States, 2014. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component Data. Generated interactively April 24, 2017.
6. Curry SJ, Byers T, Hewitt M. Fulfilling the Potential of Cancer Prevention and Control. Washington (DC): The National Academies Press; 2003.
7. Haynes MA, Smedley BD. The Unequal Burden of Cancer: An Assessment of NIH Research and Programs for Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved. Washington (DC): The National Academies Press; 1999.
8. National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program. Comprehensive Cancer Control Plans. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
9. American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Standards of the Commission on Cancer Vol II: Registry Operations and Data Standards (ROADS). Chicago (IL): American College of Surgeons; 1998.
10. Fritz A, Ries LAG. The SEER Program Code Manual, third edition. Bethesda (MD): National Cancer Institute; 1998.