Interpretation of US cancer statistics 2025 and its implications for cancer prevention and treatment in China

doi:10.19401/j.cnki.1007-3639.2025.06.001

Abstract

Abstract:

In January 2025, American Cancer Society released the latest cancer statistics, projecting approximately 2 041 910 new cancer cases and 618 120 cancer-related deaths in the United States (U.S.). The cancer mortality rate in the U.S. continues to decline, with a reversal in gender disparities and an increasing cancer burden among middle-aged and young populations. Significant differences in incidence and mortality rates are attributed to variations in population characteristics, intervention screening measures, healthcare accessibility, and policy factors across different regions and populations within the U.S. Compared with the U.S., the cancer spectrum in China is different, and the incidence rates of lung cancer and breast cancer are rapidly rising among young women, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 3%. Infection-related cancer incidence rates are relatively high, with the incidence of gastric cancer, liver cancer and cervix cancer in China being 25.4/10⁵, 26.0/10⁵and 21.8/10⁵ in 2022 respectively, surpassing U.S. incidence levels. Alarmingly, the cumulative HPV vaccination coverage among eligible Chinese women during 2018-2020 was merely 2.24%, reflecting dual barriers of low screening compliance and inadequate prevention infrastructure. There is a need to further enhance primary cancer prevention and comprehensive risk factor control, prioritize cancer prevention strategies for young and female populations, formulate population-tailored prioritized prevention frameworks and strengthen multi-stakeholder financing mechanisms for personalized screening programs, with the aim of achieving the "Healthy China 2030" cancer prevention and control goals and contributing China's approach to global cancer governance.

Key words: Cancer, Epidemiology, Statistics, Cancer control, Equity

CLC Number:

R737.1

MU Sibo, ZHOU Changming, ZHENG Ying. Interpretation of US cancer statistics 2025 and its implications for cancer prevention and treatment in China[J]. China Oncology, 2025, 35(6): 523-530.

Figures/Tables 2

Tab. 1

Comparison of major cancer incidence rates by gender in China and the United States from 2002 to 2017"

Year	China
	Lung		Colorectal		Breast female	Liver		Stomach		Prostate male
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Breast female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Prostate male
2017	49.19	34.38	32.03	21.77	47.34	19.04	5.62	19.22	9.58	16.97
2016	45.57	31.62	31.24	21.43	43.47	19.53	5.65	18.37	9.14	14.83
2015	47.60	32.55	30.24	21.29	43.74	20.98	5.14	19.76	9.15	14.56
2014	45.35	29.21	31.39	20.97	45.12	21.24	6.26	19.31	9.64	14.79
2013	44.24	25.44	31.38	22.72	40.15	20.93	6.53	19.85	9.61	13.93
2012	44.12	23.93	28.39	21.65	40.99	21.49	6.50	20.16	10.03	12.72
2011	41.41	20.51	27.63	21.19	38.81	22.03	5.70	21.00	10.51	11.86
2010	42.13	19.72	26.86	21.49	38.34	22.33	6.54	22.47	10.41	11.38
2009	41.89	20.01	27.64	20.05	35.64	22.27	6.58	21.45	10.72	11.67
2008	43.67	19.21	28.35	20.23	37.07	23.16	6.90	21.84	11.57	10.62
2007	42.20	19.22	28.00	21.50	35.13	22.56	6.69	24.19	12.04	9.77
2006	42.81	19.21	27.34	21.93	37.06	24.76	7.60	23.68	12.76	9.54
2005	45.00	20.64	26.99	21.55	36.61	24.73	8.30	25.57	13.18	9.28
2004	46.66	19.92	26.05	22.22	37.55	25.85	8.30	26.85	13.69	9.55
2003	45.89	19.16	25.60	22.21	33.52	24.32	7.28	27.41	13.15	7.56
2002	49.34	20.47	28.63	22.23	33.90	27.26	8.41	29.74	13.99	7.68
APC	0.07	3.91	1.21	-0.15	2.00	-1.96	-2.75	-2.88	-3.02	5.09
Year	USA
	Lung		Colorectal		Breast female	Liver		Stomach		Prostate male
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Breast female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Prostate male
2015	33.84	27.41	28.00	22.46	89.60	10.08	3.37	5.36	2.88	75.12
2014	34.58	28.28	28.96	22.72	89.57	9.73	3.13	5.64	2.70	71.27
2013	35.72	28.64	27.83	21.42	88.41	9.68	3.08	5.68	2.97	78.12
2012	37.05	28.81	28.39	22.29	88.17	9.72	2.98	5.82	3.21	81.58
2011	37.97	29.58	28.85	22.67	89.09	9.42	2.94	6.11	3.10	99.84
2010	39.39	29.74	29.87	23.28	87.10	8.97	2.81	5.95	3.04	103.74
2009	41.29	31.90	31.29	24.33	89.73	9.02	2.76	6.23	3.10	108.74
2008	42.35	31.87	32.34	24.87	88.69	8.28	2.69	6.21	3.01	109.87
2007	43.84	32.95	33.53	25.57	88.74	8.30	2.53	6.34	2.89	120.27
2006	44.62	33.20	33.20	26.00	87.98	7.89	2.45	6.49	3.11	117.37
2005	45.62	33.89	34.52	26.50	88.15	7.35	2.46	6.47	3.02	106.09
2004	46.49	33.10	35.85	26.77	89.81	7.06	2.17	6.76	3.24	112.44
2003	49.63	34.24	36.78	26.98	89.23	6.61	2.23	6.54	3.26	114.45
2002	49.50	34.14	37.93	28.69	96.34	5.97	2.15	6.82	3.30	122.39
APC	-2.96	-1.81	-2.13	-1.68	-0.16	3.13	3.12	-1.70	-0.62	-3.54

Tab. 1

Fig. 1

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