Health Fact Sheets
Cancer incidence in Canada, 2013 Health Fact Sheets
Cancer incidence in Canada, 2013

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There were more than 180,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed in Canada in 2013. This was an incidence rate of 516.6 cases per 100,000 people.  Although this was a 26.0% increase in the incidence rate from 1992, the year the Canadian Cancer Registry was established, the 2011 age standardized rate, which controls for aging in the population decreased by 3.7% to 506.7 cancers per 100,000 people during the same time period.  Cancer is also the leading cause of death in Canada. Every year more than 70,000 Canadians die from cancer (malignant neoplasms). ^**

Cancer in Men

In 2013, 91,850 men were diagnosed with cancer. This was an incidence rate of 530.5 cases of cancer for every 100,000 men.

The most frequently diagnosed cancer among males was prostate cancer, which accounted for 21.4% of all new cancer cases diagnosed. This was followed by lung and bronchus (13.8%), colorectal (13.2%), bladder (7.9%) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (4.7%).  These five cancers accounted for 61.0% of all newly diagnosed cancers in men in 2013.  The five most common cancers among men are unchanged since 1992.

The most frequently diagnosed cancers among men differed by age group. For males under the age of 25, testicular cancer accounted for 15.6% of new cancers in this age group. For men between the ages of 25 and 49, colorectal cancer was the most common and accounted for 11.7% of all new cases in this age group.  Prostate cancer accounted for 23.0% of all newly diagnosed cancers was the most common cancer among men 50 and older. (Table 1)

In 2013, there were several cancers that had a much higher incidence rate among men than women. These included bladder cancers, where men accounted for 76.1% of new cases, liver cancers at 76.9% and esophageal cancers at 76.0%.  For stomach and kidney cancers, men accounted for 64.4% and 63.2% of the new cases respectively.

Cancer in Women

The number of women newly diagnosed with cancer in 2013 was 88,615; an incidence rate of 503.0 cases of cancer for every 100,000 women.

Among females, the most frequently diagnosed cancer was breast cancer, which accounted for 26.2% of all new cancer cases in 2013. This was followed by lung and bronchus (13.2%), colorectal (11.2%), uterine (6.2%) and thyroid (5.1%) cancers. The five most common cancers among women accounted for 61.9% of all newly diagnosed cancers in 2013. This was very similar to the proportion reported for the five most common cancers among men.

The most frequently diagnosed cancers among women differed by age group. For females under the age of 25, thyroid cancer accounted for 14.8% of new cancers followed by acute lymphocytic leukemia (13.3%). Breast cancer was the most common among both women between the ages of 25 and 49 (33.9% of all new cases) and among women 50 years of age and older (25.3% of all new cases).

Cancers diagnosed in women between the ages of 25 and 49 accounted for 64.2% of all newly diagnosed cancers in this age group.  Among men, this age group accounted for 35.8% of newly diagnosed cancers.  The higher proportion for women in this age group was due to the high incidence rates for both breast and thyroid cancers.