The incidences and mortalities of major cancers in China, 2010

To estimate the cancer incidences and mortalities in China in 2010, the National Central Cancer Registry (NCCR) of China evaluated data for the year of 2010 from 145 qualified cancer registries covering 158,403,248 people (92,433,739 in urban areas and 65,969,509 in rural areas). The estimates of new cancer cases and cancer deaths were 3,093,039 and 1,956,622 in 2010, respectively. The percentage of morphologically verified cases were 67.11%; 2.99% of incident cases were identified through death certification only, with the mortality to incidence ratio of 0.61. The crude incidence was 235.23/100,000 (268.65/100,000 in males and 200.21/100,000 in females). The age-standardized rates by Chinese standard population (ASR China) and by world standard population (ASR world) were 184.58/100,000 and 181.49/100,000, respectively, with a cumulative incidence (0-74 years old) of 21.11%. The crude cancer mortality was 148.81/100,000 (186.37/100,000 in males and 109.42/100,000 in females). The ASR China and ASR world were 113.92/100,000 and 112.86/100,000, respectively, with a cumulative mortality of 12.78%. Lung, breast, gastric, liver, esophageal, colorectal, and cervical cancers were the most common cancers. Lung, liver, gastric, esophageal, colorectal, breast, and pancreatic cancers were the leading causes of cancer deaths. The coverage of cancer registration has rapidly increased in China in recent years and may reflect more accurate cancer burdens among populations living in different areas. Given the increasing cancer burden in the past decades, China should strengthen its cancer prevention and control.