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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 rate

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


Martinsville City


Franklin City


Galax City


Fairfax City


Petersburg City


Hopewell City


Covington City


Colonial Heights City


Danville City


Greensville County


Wise County


Norton City


Charlotte County


Sussex County


Prince Edward County


Nottoway County


King and Queen County


Smyth County


Waynesboro City


Lee County


Lynchburg City


Radford City


Halifax County with South Boston City


Craig County


Brunswick County


Portsmouth City


Emporia City


Bristol City


Roanoke City


Lancaster County


Bath County


Essex County


Charles City County


Lunenburg County


Staunton City


Giles County


Cumberland County


Warren County


Orange County


Buchanan County


Gloucester County


Patrick County


Dinwiddie County


Richmond County


Scott County


Norfolk City


Page County


Shenandoah County


Salem City


Amelia County


Buckingham County


Tazewell County


Newport News City


Dickenson County


Nelson County


Isle of Wight County


Southampton County


Accomack County


Lexington City


Surry County


Hampton City


Russell County


Winchester City


Alleghany County and Clifton Forge City


Grayson County


Fredericksburg City


New Kent County


Buena Vista City


Wythe County


Mecklenburg County


Botetourt County


Amherst County


Caroline County


Suffolk City


King William County


Henry County


Northampton County


Westmoreland County


Falls Church City


Poquoson City


Campbell County


Pittsylvania County


Chesapeake City


Madison County


Washington County


Frederick County


Pulaski County


Clarke County


Louisa County


Middlesex County


Bedford City and County


Floyd County


Mathews County


Richmond City


King George County


Culpeper County


Fluvanna County


Carroll County


Prince George County


Franklin County


Manassas City


Williamsburg City


Rockingham County


Virginia Beach City


Chesterfield County


Henrico County


Montgomery County


Hanover County


Harrisonburg City


Spotsylvania County


Powhatan County


Greene County


Stafford County


Augusta County


Fauquier County


Northumberland County


Roanoke County


Rockbridge County


Appomattox County


Goochland County


James City County


Charlottesville City


Prince William County


Albemarle County


York County


Alexandria City


Rappahannock County


Loudoun County


Arlington County


Fairfax County


Manassas Park City


Bland County Highland County

Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/18/2026 7:48 pm.

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.