Statistics show an average of 789 new malignant cancers diagnosed per day in 2020
Diagnoses of new malignant cancers in England decreased from 327,174 in 2019 to 288,753 in 2020, according to new figures from NHS Digital show.
The Cancer Registration Statistics, England, 2020 publication provides information on cancers that were newly diagnosed in the 2020 calendar year. Breakdowns were according to geography, gender, age bands, deprivation and diagnosis stage.
In 2020, there were 288,753 new cancer diagnoses, which is 38,421 fewer than in 2019. Meanwhile, the average number of new diagnoses each day fell from 896 in 2019 to 789 in 2020.
The four most common cancers registered – prostate, breast, bowel and lung – continued to account for over half of all diagnoses (51%) in 2020. More cancers continue to be diagnosed and registered for males (148,210) than for females (140,543), while prostate cancer continued to be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in males (24% of all male diagnoses). Breast cancer continued to be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in females (28% of all female diagnoses).
The fall in diagnoses registered between 2019 and 2020 is spread unevenly across different cancers. The biggest change in male cancer diagnoses was in prostate cancer, which fell by 11,463 (or 24%) between 2019 and 2020.
In females, the largest change in the number of diagnoses was for breast cancer (a fall of 8,175 diagnoses or 17% in 2020 compared to 2019). The largest proportionate change among females was for melanoma, which showed a drop of 1,319 diagnoses or 18% decrease in 2020.
Cancer incidence for both genders increased with deprivation, however, with males in the least deprived areas having a higher rate of cancer incidence than females in the most deprived areas (554 per 100,000 for males and 550 per 100,000 for females).
Cancer incidence rates increased with age for both males and females. However, females had higher incidence rates than males between the ages of 15 and 59 years, while males had higher incidence rates when aged 60 and above.
