Cancer Control and Population Sciences Home
Types of Cancer Statistics:
Where can I find Cancer Statistics by Race/Ethnicity?
The NCI has recognized the need to better define the cancer burden in racial/ethnic minorities and medically underserved populations and supports research, applications and surveillance on the full diversity of the United States population. Since its inception in 1973, the the cancer registry system of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program
has included large segments of diverse populations. Subsequent expansions increased the proportions of Hispanics, urban African Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders in Southern California and the Greater Bay Area, rural African Americans in Georgia, northwestern populations in Seattle, Arizona Indians, and Alaska Natives residing in Alaska. An expansion in 2001 of four areas increased coverage of key populations, such as rural low-income whites, more geographically diverse American Indians, rural African-Americans and other Hispanic groups. This addition - the largest expansion to date - brings SEER coverage to 26% of the U.S. population.
The SEER Program collects and publishes cancer incidence and survival data in order to assemble and report estimates of cancer incidence, survival, mortality, other measures of the cancer burden, and patterns of care in the U.S. Statistics from the SEER Program routinely include information specific to race/ethnic populations as well as other populations defined by age, gender, and geography.
Reports and Monographs
Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2009 provides trends in cancer incidence and death rates in the United States for all races combined and among 5 major racial/ethnic groups (white, black, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Natives, and Hispanic).
The SEER Cancer Statistics Review (CSR), 1975-2009 includes cancer statistics by race/ethnicity, sex, age, and year of diagnosis for major cancers. Incidence and mortality statistics by race/ethnicity are excerpted from the CSR in a separate PDF.
An Update on Cancer in American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1999-2004 provides a comprehensive description of the cancer burden in the American Indian/ Alaska Native population in the United States.
State Cancer Profiles is a comprehensive system enabling the investigation of cancer trends at the national, state, and county level.
Cancer Incidence in Four Middle Eastern Countries (Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, and Jordan) presents information about cancer incidence for populations of the four countries for the period 1996-2001, and compares the findings with those from the US SEER Program.
Cancer Survival Among US Whites and Minorities uses SEER data to describe racial and ethnic patterns of cancer-specific survival and relative risks of cancer death for all cancers combined and for cancers of the colon and rectum, lung and bronchus, prostate, and female breast for the six major US racial and ethnic groups.
Prostate Cancer: Racial/Ethnic Patterns is a chapter in Prostate Cancer Trends, 1973-1995 that includes statistics and interpretation for prostate cancer for white, black, Filipino, Hawaiian, Japanese, Native American, and Hispanic populations in the United States.
Racial/Ethnic Patterns of Cancer in the United States, 1988-1992 provides a concise description of the occurrence of the major cancers among several different racial/ethnic groups in the United States.
Research Tools
Fast Stats is an interactive tool to access key SEER and US cancer statistics by age, sex, and race. Tables and graphs include statistics for whites, blacks, Asian/Pacific Islanders, American Indian/Alaska Natives, and Hispanics.
Cancer Query Systems are Web-based data retrieval tools that allow you to select statistics by defining various parameters, including race. Incidence, mortality, survival and stage, prevalence, and lifetime risk databases are available.
SEER*Stat software allows cancer researchers to calculate incidence rates based on SEER or other cancer databases.
Joinpoint can be used to calculate cancer trends by analyzing incidence rates. This is often used to analyze trends in rates calculated by SEER*Stat.
