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Interpretation of Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer Data

Death Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer, 2019-2023

Virginia Counties versus United States

All Cancer Sites

All Races, Male

Sorted by count

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


Fairfax County


Virginia Beach City


Chesterfield County


Henrico County


Prince William County


Chesapeake City


Norfolk City


Loudoun County


Richmond City


Newport News City


Hampton City


Spotsylvania County


Hanover County


Roanoke City


Arlington County


Bedford City and County


Frederick County


Portsmouth City


Stafford County


Roanoke County


Albemarle County


James City County


Suffolk City


Augusta County


Rockingham County


Pittsylvania County


Alexandria City


Lynchburg City


Washington County


Henry County


Montgomery County


Franklin County


Fauquier County


Campbell County


Shenandoah County


Danville City


Tazewell County


Halifax County with South Boston City


Wise County


York County


Accomack County


Gloucester County


Warren County


Culpeper County


Smyth County


Orange County


Petersburg City


Isle of Wight County


Botetourt County


Mecklenburg County


Louisa County


Pulaski County


Carroll County


Amherst County


Russell County


Scott County


Lee County


Wythe County


Dinwiddie County


Page County


Caroline County


Staunton City


Powhatan County


Buchanan County


Prince George County


Hopewell City


Patrick County


Salem City


Fairfax City


Fluvanna County


Waynesboro City


Westmoreland County


Rockbridge County


Winchester City


Goochland County


New Kent County


Colonial Heights City


Harrisonburg City


Southampton County


Charlottesville City


Nelson County


Prince Edward County


Giles County


Brunswick County


Lancaster County


Alleghany County and Clifton Forge City


Grayson County


King George County


Buckingham County


Manassas City


Bristol City


Northumberland County


Nottoway County


Dickenson County


Martinsville City


Middlesex County


Floyd County


Clarke County


Fredericksburg City


Greene County


Northampton County


Charlotte County


King William County


Lunenburg County


Madison County


Amelia County


Appomattox County


Sussex County


Essex County


Greensville County


Cumberland County


Franklin City


Mathews County


Poquoson City


Williamsburg City


Richmond County


King and Queen County


Falls Church City


Galax City


Radford City


Charles City County


Surry County


Bath County


Covington City


Craig County


Rappahannock County


Emporia City


Buena Vista City


Lexington City


Norton City


Manassas Park City


Bland County Highland County

Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/18/2026 12:52 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 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).
Trend for the following could not be reliably determined due to small number of deaths per year:
Bland County, Highland County

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.