Cancer registration statistics: cancer mortality in England, 2018
Published 27 November 2020
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cancer-registration-statistics-cancer-mortality-in-england-2018/cancer-registration-statistics-cancer-mortality-in-england-2018
Main Points
- The rate of people dying from cancer in England decreased from 270 deaths per 100,000 in 2017 to 266 deaths per 100,000 in 2018.
- In 2018, mortality rates from cancer continue to be higher for males (313 deaths per 100,000) than females (218 deaths per 100,000).
The rate of people dying from cancer in England continues to decrease
The number of people dying from cancer has slightly increased. For males, the number of deaths increased from 72,678 in 2017 to 72,882 in 2018. For females, the number of deaths increased from 63,207 in 2017 to 63,338 in 2018.
Despite the increase in number of deaths, the age-standardised rate of mortality from cancer has decreased for both males and females. For males, the rate decreased from 319 deaths per 100,000 in 2017 to 313 deaths per 100,000 in 2018. Similarly, for females, the rate decreased from 221 deaths per 100,000 in 2017 to 218 deaths per 100,000 in 2018.
Table 1: Age-standardised mortality and incidence rates per 100,000 for the four most commonly diagnosed cancers in males and females, England, 2009 and 2018
| Cancer site | Sex | 2009 Incidence rate | 2009 Mortality rate | 2018 Incidence rate | 2018 Mortality rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast (C50) | Females | 163.1 | 38.2 | 171.9 | 33.0 |
| Colorectal (C18-C20) | Males | 92.7 | 6.0 | 83.0 | 31.8 |
| Females | 58.8 | 22.3 | 55.7 | 20.8 | |
| Lung (C34) | Males | 96.1 | 81.8 | 85.5 | 63.5 |
| Females | 61.1 | 48.6 | 66.9 | 44.4 | |
| Prostate (C61) | Males | 182.8 | 50.8 | 204.7 | 46.0 |
As shown in Table 1, in 2018, for males, the 3 cancers with the highest incidence rates per 100,000 were prostate, lung and colorectal. The incidence rate for prostate cancer has increased between 2009 and 2018 but has decreased for lung and colorectal cancer in males. Despite the increase in prostate cancer incidence, the mortality rates per 100,000 have decreased from 51 per 100,000 in 2009 to 46 per 100,000 in 2018.
Also shown in Table 1, breast cancer incidence in females increased between 2009 and 2018, from 163 per 100,000 to 172 per 100,000, but the mortality rates decreased, from 38 per 100,000 in 2009 to 33 per 100,000 in 2018. In a similar trend, lung cancer incidence in females also increased between 2009 and 2018, from 61 per 100,000 in 2009 to 67 per 100,000 in 2018, but lung cancer mortality rates decreased, from 49 per 100,000 to 44 per 100,000.
These decreases in mortality rates while incidence rates increased suggest that more patients may be living longer following a diagnosis of prostate cancer, and female lung and breast cancer.
Deaths from cancer increase with age
Figure 1: Age-specific mortality rates from cancer, by age group for males and females, England, 2002 and 2018
Figure 1 shows that in both 2002 and 2018 the mortality rate for cancer increased with age and that the rates were higher for males than for females in most age groups.
The biggest gap in mortality rates between males and females in 2018 was seen in those aged 90 years and over where the rate was 3,727 per 100,000 for males and 1,914 per 100,000 for females. There were several age groups where the gap in mortality rates between males and females decreased from 2002 to 2018. This was mainly observed in age groups between 55 to 89 years, with the largest decrease in the 85 to 89-year age group.
In both males and females, the mortality rate decreased for most age groups between 2002 and 2018, except for those aged over 90 years. Amongst females aged over 90 years, there were 23 more deaths per 100,000 in 2018 than in 2002; this equated to a 1.2% increase over time. Amongst males aged over 90 years, there were 206 more deaths per 100,000 in 2018 than in 2002; this equated to a 5.8% increase. This trend may be due to more people living past 90 years of age.
What you need to know about this release
This bulletin is a supplement to the National Statistics Cancer registration statistics: England 2018 final release publication released on the 29 May 2020. At the time of the cancer registration release, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 meant that access to 2018 cancer mortality data was delayed and could therefore not be included with the cancer registrations in May.
The commentary and data in this release can be read and used in conjunction with the Cancer registration statistics: England 2018 final release.
Data quality and methodology
The figures for numbers of deaths and mortality rates for ‘cancer’ in this release refer to all malignant neoplasms which include International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes of C00 to C97, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) (ICD-10 C44).
Although NMSC is very common, the available figures are known to be underestimates and unreliable for comparison purposes. This is because previously there has been variation in the policies and practices for recording it. However, for completeness, rates and counts of NMSC have been included in the data tables.
The Cancer registration statistics Quality and Methodology Information report contains important information on:
- the strengths and limitations of the data and how it compares with related data
- uses and users of the data
- how the output was created
- the quality of the output including the accuracy of the data
- how the Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects and quality assures the mortality statistics
The age-standardised mortality rates in this release are expressed per 100,000 population and are standardised to the European Standard Population 2013 (ESP 2013). Standardising cancer mortality rates with the ESP accounts for the differing age structure of different populations. This means that geographical and time comparisons of the rates can be made.
The data tables to this bulletin also include age-specific cancer mortality rates for each cancer site; and cancer rates for International Classification for Diseases (ICD-10) codes C00 to C97 and D00 to D48 (excluding D04, D10 to D31, D34 to D35.1, and D35.5 to D36). These can all be found in the data tables.
Authors
For queries relating to this bulletin, please contact us via email at ncrasenquiries@phe.gov.uk.
Responsible statistician: Dian Xu
Production team: Dian Xu; John Broggio; Marta Emmett; Sophie Finnigan; Thomas Higgins; Roger Hill.
Acknowledgements
This work uses data that have been provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support. The data is collated, maintained and quality assured by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), which is part of Public Health England.