title: Cancer incidence, survival and mortality: explaining the concepts.
abstract: Cancer incidence, survival and mortality are essential population-based indicators for public health and cancer control. Confusion and misunderstanding still surround the estimation and interpretation of these indicators. Recurring controversies over the use and misuse of population-based cancer statistics in health policy suggests the need for further clarification. In our article, we describe the concepts that underlie the measures of incidence, survival and mortality, and illustrate the synergy between these measures of the cancer burden. We demonstrate the relationships between trends in incidence, survival and mortality, using real data for cancers of the lung and breast from England and Sweden. Finally, we discuss the importance of using all three measures in combination when interpreting overall progress in cancer control, and we offer some recommendations for their use.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Libby
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Estève
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eloranta
authors.forename: Michel P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rachet
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: cancer; incidence; methods; mortality; survival