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Cancer prevalence in the Canadian population

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by Larry F. Ellison and Kathryn Wilkins

Abstract
Keywords
Findings
Appendix
Authors
What is already known on this subject?
What does this study add?
Acknowledgement

Abstract

Background

The rising numbers of cancer diagnoses, together with improvements in survival, have led to increases in the prevalence of cancer in Canada.  This article provides more precise and detailed estimates of cancer prevalence than have been available previously.

Data and methods

Based on incidence data from the Canadian Cancer Registry linked with mortality data from the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database, direct estimates of cancer prevalence as of January 1, 2005 were calculated for an extensive list of cancers, by time since diagnosis, age and sex.

Results

Two-, five- and ten-year cancer prevalence counts were 217,089 (675 per 100,000), 454,149 (1,412 per 100,000) and 722,833 (2,248 per 100,000), respectively.  Breast (20.6% of ten-year prevalent cases), prostate (18.7%) and colorectal cancer (12.9%) were the most prevalent, together accounting for just over half of all cases. Prevalence proportions for all cancers combined increased dramatically with age, peaking at ages 80 to 84; proportions were higher in females than in males before age 60, and higher in males thereafter.

Interpretation

Prevalence data tabulated according to type of cancer, age and time since diagnoses provide important information about the demand for cancer-related health care and social services.

Keywords

epidemiologic methods, neoplasms, registries, surveillance

Findings

Information on the prevalence of cancer in a population is important to health care planning. People diagnosed with cancer require treatment, monitoring for recurrence, and screening for other cancers. As well, they run the risk of permanent impairment or disability. Cancer prevalence data provide an overall indication of the demand for cancer-related health care and social services and can be used to plan the future allocation of these resources. [Full text]

Appendix

Sometimes the unit of measure of interest is the number of people living with a past diagnosis of cancer rather than the number of cancers. [Full text]

Authors

Larry F. Ellison (613-951-5244; larry.ellison@statcan.gc.ca) is with the Health Statistics Division and Kathryn Wilkins (613-951-1769; Kathryn.wilkins@statcan.gc.ca) is with the Health Information and Research Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6.

What is already known on this subject?

  • Because of increases in the incidence of cancer and improving survival, the number of Canadians living with cancer is rising.  This leads to a growing demand for cancer care services.
  • Cancer prevalence data provide an overall indication of the demand for cancer-related health care and social services in a population and can be used to plan the future allocation of these resources.
  • Prevalence estimates by time since diagnosis are especially relevant to resource planning; for example, estimates of five-year prevalence reflect fairly closely the number of cancers requiring active treatment or close follow-up care.

What does this study add?

  • This study presents direct estimates of the prevalence of  cancer in Canada. Estimates derived directly are more precise than those based on indirect methodology. 
  • For the first time, national figures are provided by age group and time since diagnosis.
  • In addition to the four leading cancers, for which indirectly derived estimates have been reported previously, this analysis offers data for 22 other cancers.

Acknowledgement

The Canadian Cancer Registry is maintained by Statistics Canada.  It is comprised of data supplied by the provincial and territorial cancer registries whose cooperation is gratefully acknowledged.