Lung cancer incidence and mortality in China: Updated statistics and an overview of temporal trends from 2000 to 2016

Highlights • Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality in China. • Men had higher incidence rates of lung cancer than women in China, but the burden of lung cancer for women in China was still very high and increased quickly. • The younger the age, the more obvious trend of lung cancer incidence rate descending in men, but more obvious increasing trend in women. • The numbers of new cases and deaths increased by about 162.6% and 123.6% in the past 17 years, which can be chiefly explained by changes in age structures. Updated systematic statistics on lung cancer are the underpinning cornerstones for formulating prevention and control strategies for the disease. The incidence and mortality data of lung cancer in China in 2016 were estimated, and also used to analyze the temporal trends of lung cancer from 2000 up to 2016 in this study. The burden of lung cancer in China in 2016 was estimated using data from 487 cancer registries, which were abstracted from the database of the National Cancer Center of China (NCC). The temporal trends were estimated with the data of 2000 to 2016 from 22 cancer registries. About 828,100 new lung cancer cases and 657,000 lung cancer deaths were estimated in China in 2016. The crude incidence and mortality rates in the eastern region were the highest nationwide. The incidence and mortality of lung cancer increased with age, and most of the new cases occurred in the age group of over 60 years. The age-standardized incidence increased by about 0.8% per year during 2000 to 2016, especially in woman, whose annual increase rate reached 2.1%. The age-standardized mortality rate decreased by about 0.6% per year, with a decrease of 1.3% per year in urban areas and an increase of 2.3% per year in rural areas. The numbers of new cases and deaths increased by 162.6% and 123.6%, respectively, during 2000 to 2016, which can be explained mainly by the change of the age structure. The burden of lung cancer is serious in China, and increased especially rapidly for women in rural areas. The disease is expected to threaten the lives of more people in the future due to factors such as aging and population growth. Lung cancer prevention and control strategies and resources should be leveraged toward women and rural areas in the future.