Cancer Incidence Rates in 2021 Indicate Return to Prepandemic Levels

MONDAY, Sept. 30, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- The overall incidence rates for all cancer sites and specific cancer sites returned to prepandemic levels in 2021, according to a study published online Sept. 24 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Nadia Howlader, Ph.D., from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues used 2021 incidence data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program to assess the impact of the pandemic on cancer incidence rates in the United States. Observed 2021 cancer incidence rates were compared to expected prepandemic trends, assessed by individual cancer site (breast, prostate, lung and bronchus, pancreas, and thyroid) and stage.

The researchers found that incidence overall and in many cancer sites was close to prepandemic levels, but there was no recovery that incorporated delayed diagnoses from 2020. Exceptions were seen, such as metastatic breast cancer, which had a significantly higher rate than expected (rate ratio, 1.09).

"Overall incidence rates for all cancer sites and the five specific cancer sites examined in this study returned to prepandemic levels. They did not, however, display a rebound to account for potential delayed diagnoses in 2020," the authors write. "Continuous monitoring is necessary to address the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer incidence and outcomes."

Abstract/Full Text