Return to Home Mortality > Table > Interpret

Interpretation of Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer Data

Death Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer, 2019-2023

Virginia Counties versus United States

Lung & Bronchus

All Races, Both Sexes

Sorted by priority index

Explanation of Column Headers

State/County - The site and sex combination for this comparison.

Priority Index 1 - The priority index is based upon the direction of the trend and the rate comparison. An index of 1 is the highest priority - that trend is rising and the rate is already higher. An index of 9 is the lowest priority - the trend is falling and the rate is already lower.

Recent Trends - This is an interpretation of the AAPC:

AAPC (95% Confidence Interval) - The Average Annual Percent Change is the change in rate over time. These AAPCs are based upon APCs that were calculated by Joinpoint Regression Program


Other Notes


Line by Line Interpretation of the Report


United States


Virginia


Bristol City


Alleghany County and Clifton Forge City


Amelia County


Buckingham County


Charlotte County


Dickenson County


Fairfax City


Franklin City


Galax City


Greensville County


Hopewell City


King George County


Lancaster County


Lee County


Lunenburg County


Mecklenburg County


New Kent County


Nottoway County


Page County


Patrick County


Prince Edward County


Prince George County


Salem City


Staunton City


Waynesboro City


Accomack County


Amherst County


Brunswick County


Buchanan County


Caroline County


Chesapeake City


Colonial Heights City


Danville City


Dinwiddie County


Giles County


Gloucester County


Grayson County


Halifax County with South Boston City


Hampton City


Henrico County


Henry County


King William County


Lynchburg City


Martinsville City


Middlesex County


Newport News City


Norfolk City


Petersburg City


Pittsylvania County


Portsmouth City


Pulaski County


Roanoke City


Scott County


Shenandoah County


Smyth County


Southampton County


Sussex County


Tazewell County


Warren County


Washington County


Westmoreland County


Wise County


Appomattox County


Botetourt County


Covington City


Essex County


Floyd County


King and Queen County


Madison County


Mathews County


Nelson County


Northumberland County


Poquoson City


Rappahannock County


Rockbridge County


Surry County


Falls Church City


Augusta County


Bedford City and County


Campbell County


Carroll County


Charles City County


Charlottesville City


Chesterfield County


Clarke County


Culpeper County


Cumberland County


Fauquier County


Fluvanna County


Franklin County


Frederick County


Fredericksburg City


Goochland County


Greene County


Hanover County


Harrisonburg City


Isle of Wight County


Louisa County


Manassas City


Montgomery County


Northampton County


Orange County


Powhatan County


Radford City


Richmond City


Richmond County


Roanoke County


Rockingham County


Russell County


Spotsylvania County


Stafford County


Suffolk City


Virginia Beach City


Winchester City


Wythe County


York County


Albemarle County


Alexandria City


Arlington County


Fairfax County


James City County


Loudoun County


Prince William County


Bath County Bland County Buena Vista City Emporia City Williamsburg City Craig County Highland County Lexington City Manassas Park City Norton City

Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/22/2026 12:05 am.

Trend2
     Rising     when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is above 0.
     Stable     when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change includes 0.
     Falling     when 95% confidence interval of average annual percent change is below 0.
Rate Comparison
     Above     when 95% confident the rate is above and Rate Ratio3 > 1.10
     Similar     when unable to conclude above or below with confidence.
     Below     when 95% confident the rate is below and Rate Ratio3 < 0.90

* Data has been suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate and trend estimates.
** Data are too sparse to provide stable estimates of annual rates needed to calculate trend.
1 Priority indices were created by ordering from rates that are rising and above the comparison rate to rates that are falling and below the comparison rate.
2 Recent trend in death rates is usually an Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) based on the APCs calculated by Joinpoint. Due to data availability issues, the time period and/or calculation method used in the calculation of the trends may differ for selected geographic areas.
3 Rate ratio is the county rate divided by the US rate. Previous versions of this table used one-year rates for states and five-year rates for counties. As of June 2018, only five-year rates are used.
Source: Death data provided by the National Vital Statistics System public use data file. Death rates calculated by the National Cancer Institute using SEER*Stat. Death rates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population (20 age groups: <1, 1-4, 5-9, ... , 80-84, 85-89, 90+). The Healthy People 2030 goals are based on rates adjusted using different methods but the differences should be minimal. Population counts for denominators are based on Census populations as modified by NCI. The US Population Data File is used with mortality data.
Note: When the population size for a denominator is small, the rates may be unstable. A rate is unstable when a small change in the numerator (e.g., only one or two additional cases) has a dramatic effect on the calculated rate. Suppression is used to avoid misinterpretation when rates are unstable.

State Cancer Registries may provide more current or more local data. Data presented on the State Cancer Profiles Web Site may differ from statistics reported by the State Cancer Registries (for more information).

Data for the following has been suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate and trend estimates:
Craig County, Highland County, Lexington City, Manassas Park City, Norton City

Trend for the following could not be reliably determined due to small number of deaths per year:
Bath County, Bland County, Buena Vista City, Emporia City, Williamsburg City

Interpret Rankings provides insight into interpreting cancer statistics. When the population size for a denominator is small, the rates may be unstable. A rate is unstable when a small change in the numerator (e.g., only one or two additional cases) has a dramatic effect on the calculated rate.

Data for United States do not include Puerto Rico.