Cancer Registration Statistics, England 2020

In 2020, there was a decrease in the number of all cancers diagnosed in England, which fell 12% from 327,174 new diagnoses registered in 2019 to 288,753 new cancer diagnoses registered in 2020.

Despite the fall in the number of cancer diagnoses registered, some patterns to the data in 2020 remain the same as previous years.

More cancers continue to be diagnosed and registered for males (148,210) than females (140,543).

The majority (94%) of all new cancer diagnoses registered continue to be found in 24 different cancers and just over half (51%) of all registered cancer diagnoses continue to be found in the breast, prostate, lung or bowel.

Figure 1 shows the number of new diagnoses in 24 common cancers split by gender. More detailed breakdowns by type of cancer and age are available in the data tables.

Notes:

• ICD-10 was used to classify cancer.
• All ages are combined.

The fall in diagnoses registered between 2019 and 2020 is spread unevenly across different cancers.

For males, the number of diagnoses registered for bladder cancer were similar in both 2019 and 2020 (a fall of 144 diagnoses or 2%). The biggest change (as proportion and numerically) in male cancer diagnoses registered was in prostate cancer, which by fell by 11,463 (or 24%) between 2019 and 2020.

Table 1 shows the difference and the proportionate change in the number of new cancer diagnoses registered between 2019 and 2020 for male diagnoses of the 24 common cancers shown in Figure 1.

Table 1: Changes in the number of common cancers diagnosed for males between 2019 and 2020, England

For females, there was a small increase in the number of diagnoses registered for mesothelioma (26 diagnoses or +6%); this was the only site to register an increase in the number of diagnoses for females. The largest change in the number of diagnoses registered for females between 2019 and 2020 was recorded for breast cancer (a fall of 8,175 diagnoses or 17%). The largest proportionate change for females between 2019 and 2020 was recorded for melanoma of skin (a fall of 1,319 diagnoses or 18%).

Table 2 shows the difference and the proportionate change in the number of new cancer diagnoses registered between 2019 and 2020 for female diagnoses of the 24 common cancers shown in Figure 1.

Table 2: Change in the number of common cancers diagnosed for females between 2019 and 2020, England