Glossary of Terms

Age-Adjusted Rate
An age-adjusted rate is a weighted average of the age-specific cancer incidence (or mortality) rates, where the weights are the proportions of persons in the corresponding age groups of a standard population.

Cancer
Cancer consists of more than 100 different diseases. These diseases are characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. Cancer can arise in many sites and behave differently depending on its organ of origin.

Incidence
The cancer incidence rate is the number of new cancers of a specific type occurring in a specified population during a year, expressed as the number of cancers per 100,000 people.

Mortality
The cancer mortality rate is the number of deaths with cancer given as the underlying cause of death occurring in a specified population during a year, expressed as the number of deaths due to cancer per 100,000 people.

Relative Survival Rate
The relative survival rate adjusts the observed survival rate for expected mortality. This rate represents the likelihood that a patient will not die from causes associated specifically with their cancer at some specified time after diagnosis. It is always larger than the observed survival rate for the same group of patients.