Cancer Registration Statistics, England 2019

Stage at diagnosis of cancer is an important factor that affects cancer outcomes. Earlier diagnosis, that is, usually when cancers are diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 as opposed to stages 3 and 4, is associated with better prognosis on average. It is important to note that not all cancers have a staging system, for example, there is no staging system for most brain cancers.

This bulletin has been expanded to include stage at diagnosis for 18 cancer sites/groups (previously nine cancer sites/groups). Cancer sites/groups were included if they have a valid staging system, an average of at least 70% of cancers with a valid stage in the three most recent diagnosis, and none of the three diagnosis years had significantly lower than 70% of cancers with a valid stage. This included the five most commonly diagnosed cancers in males and females. More information on stage at diagnosis is included in the Case-mix adjusted percentage of cancers diagnoses at stages 1 and 2 publication.

Table 1 shows the ICD-10 codes used to define each cancer site or group. These definitions are based on the UK and Ireland Association of Cancer Registries (UKIACR) Performance Indicators and may differ to others used in this report.

Table 1: Cancer site and group definitions by ICD-10 revision 5 code

• The UKIACR Performance Indicator for early stage includes primary peritoneal carcinomas in the Ovary and Fallopian tube group – these have not been included in this report.

Of the 18 cancers examined, the percentage of cancer with complete staging data (those with stage 1 to 4) varied between 69% for bladder cancer to 88% for lung cancer.  The percentage of cancers diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 are presented as the percentage of staged cases (cases with missing or unstageable cancers are not included in the denominator).

The percentage of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 varied by cancer site/group and sex. Compared to males, females had a higher percentage of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 for all sites/groups, except for bladder cancer and cancer in the larynx including anterior surface of epiglottis. The greatest differences between the sexes in the percentage of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 were for bladder cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma. Males had a higher percentage of bladder cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 than females by 10%-points (78% versus 68%).  Females had a higher percentage of Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 than males by 10%-points (51% versus 41%).

Figure 10 shows the percentage of staged cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2, and stages 3 and 4, for males and females.

Figure 10: Percentage of staged cancers diagnosed for males and females by early (stage 1 and 2) and late stage (stage 3 and 4), England, 2019

Download data for Figure 10: Percentage of staged cancers diagnosed for males and females by early (stage 1 and 2) and late stage (stage 3 and 4), England, 2019

Notes:

• Cancers that were ‘Unstageable’ and ‘Missing’ were excluded from the cancer cases presented. ‘Unstageable’ are cancers that do not currently have a staging system and ‘Missing’ are cases where there was not enough information available to the registry to complete staging. For a complete breakdown of all stages (stages 1 and 2, stages 3 and 4, Unstageable and Missing) please see the data tables.
• All ages combined.

Of non sex-specific cancers, melanoma of the skin had the highest percentage diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 for both males (87%) and females (91%). For males, testicular cancer had the highest percentage diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 (90%). For females, thyroid cancer and breast cancer had high percentages diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 with 90% and 86%.

Both pancreatic cancer and oesophageal cancer had the lowest percentage diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 for both males (22% and 18%) and females (24% and 24%).