Short-term cancer prevalence in Canada, 2018

As the leading cause of death in Canada, cancer imposes an enormous burden on both the health of Canadians and the Canadian health care system. This study presents detailed tumour-based cancer prevalence estimates in Canada by sex, age group, cancer type and prevalence duration as of January 1, 2018.

Estimates of two- and five-year cancer prevalence were calculated for an extensive list of cancers in the Canadian population (excluding Quebec) based on incidence data from the Canadian Cancer Registry linked to mortality data from the Canadian Vital Statistics - Death Database, and death-related information from tax data.

The two- and five-year cancer prevalence counts were 236,785 (832.1 per 100,000 people) and 503,060 (1,767.8 per 100,000 people), respectively. Cancer prevalence estimates varied by cancer site, and the four most prevalent cancers (breast, prostate, colorectal, lung) accounted for 49.6% of total five-year cancer prevalence in Canada. Prevalence for all cancers combined increased dramatically with age: 74.3% of prevalent cases among males and 61.9% among females were encountered among the population aged 60 and older. Prevalence was higher among females than males before age 60, and higher among males thereafter, peaking in the 80-to-89 age group for both sexes.

Prevalence mirrors the effects of both cancer incidence and survival. Breaking down cancer prevalence by disease duration is useful to distinguish groups of patients in different phases of care. An increase in prevalence indicates a greater demand for health care services and translates into a significant economic burden for the jurisdictions that are responsible for providing such services.