Cancer Mortality Decreases But Is Still High in Some Counties

A recent study found that overall cancer mortality in the United States has decreased by 20.1% from 1980 to 2014, but some counties still have high cancer mortality rates.

For the study, the researchers analyzed deidentified death records from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and population counts from 1980 to 2014 collected from the Census Bureau, the NCHS, and the Human Morality Database.
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County-level mortality rates for 29 cancers, including stomach, liver, and pancreatic cancer, were estimated with validated small area estimation models.

More than 19.5 million cancer deaths were recorded from 1980 to 2014. The cancer mortality rate had decreased from 240.2 per 100,000 people in 1980 to 192.0 per 100,000 people in 2014.

Throughout the period, large differences in mortality rates were seen among counties across the United States. For instance, in 1980 in Summit County, Colorado, the mortality rate was 130.6 per 100,000 people, whereas in North Slope Borough, Alaska, it was 386.9. Similarly in 2014 in Summit County, the mortality rate was 70.7, whereas in Union County, Florida, it was 503.1.

Despite an overall decrease in cancer death rates, certain counties still had high morality for specific cancers, which were varied and spread across different regions of the United States. Breast cancer mortality was still high in the southern belt and along the Mississippi River, and liver cancer was high along the Texas-Mexico border. North and South Dakota and counties in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Alaska, and Illinois had high kidney cancer mortality rates.

From 1980 to 2014, “there were important changes in trends, patterns, and differences in cancer mortality among US counties. These patterns may inform further research into improving prevention and treatment,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Mokdad AH, Dwyer-Lindgren L, Fitmaurice C, et al. Trends and patterns of disparities in cancer mortality among US counties, 1980-2014 [published online January 24, 2017]. JAMA. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.20324.