Cancer Registration Statistics, England 2020

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.

Of the 18 cancers examined, the percentage of cancer with complete staging data (those with stage 1 to 4) varied between 71% for oesophagus cancer for females to 90% for lung cancer and oropharynx cancer for females. For males, the lowest was 76% for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and pancreas cancer; the highest was 90% for lung cancer and rectum cancer.

The percentage of cancers diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 are presented as the percentage of staged cancer diagnoses (diagnoses that are unstageable or have missing stage information are not included in the estimates).

Figures 8 and 9 shows the percentage of staged cancers diagnosed at stage 1 and 2, and stage 3 and 4, for males and females, respectively. For males, testicular cancer had the highest percentage diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 (91%). For females, breast cancer had high percentages diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 (83%). Of cancers commonly diagnosed in both males and females, melanoma of the skin had the highest percentage diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 for both males (85%) and females (89%).

The greatest differences between the genders in the percentage of cancers diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 were for:

• bladder cancer: males had 11%-point higher percentage than females (75% versus 63%)
• breast cancer: females had 8%-point higher percentage than males (83% versus 75%)
• oesophageal cancer: females had 8%-point higher percentage than males (25% versus 16%)

Notes:

• Cancers that were unstageable or had missing data were excluded from the estimates. Cancer diagnoses without enough information available to NCRAS to assign a stage are said to be ‘missing’. For a complete breakdown of all stages (stage 1 and 2, stage 3 and 4, Unstageable and Missing) please see the data tables.
• All ages are combined.

For all cancer sites for males and all cancer sites except larynx and uterus for females, the proportion of missing data has decreased between 2019 and 2020. The increase in missing stage data for females was <1% for larynx and 1% for uterus.

Cancer sites were included if they have a valid staging system, an average of at least 70% of diagnoses with a valid stage in the three most recent diagnosis years for each gender, and none of the three diagnosis years had significantly lower than 70% of diagnoses with a valid stage for each gender. These groups include the five most commonly diagnosed cancers for males and females. More information on stage at diagnosis is included in the case-mix adjusted percentage of cancers diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 by CCG Collection.