Return to Home Mortality > Table > Interpret

Interpretation of Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer Data

Death Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer, 2019-2023

North Carolina Counties versus United States

Liver & Bile Duct

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


North Carolina


Durham County


Wake County


Lee County


Iredell County


Brunswick County


Buncombe County


Caldwell County


Carteret County


Catawba County


Cumberland County


Edgecombe County


Franklin County


Harnett County


Henderson County


Johnston County


Lenoir County


Mecklenburg County


Moore County


New Hanover County


Onslow County


Pender County


Pitt County


Surry County


Wilson County


Beaufort County


Burke County


Cabarrus County


Cleveland County


Craven County


Forsyth County


Guilford County


Halifax County


Haywood County


Nash County


Randolph County


Rowan County


Union County


Watauga County


Wayne County


Wilkes County


Yadkin County


Alamance County


Davidson County


Gaston County


Richmond County


Robeson County


Rutherford County


Stanly County


Vance County


Alexander County Anson County Ashe County Bladen County Chatham County Cherokee County Columbus County Dare County Davie County Duplin County Granville County Greene County Hoke County Jackson County Lincoln County Martin County McDowell County Mitchell County Montgomery County Orange County Person County Rockingham County Sampson County Scotland County Stokes County Transylvania County Alleghany County Avery County Bertie County Camden County Caswell County Chowan County Clay County Currituck County Gates County Graham County Hertford County Hyde County Jones County Macon County Madison County Northampton County Pamlico County Pasquotank County Perquimans County Polk County Swain County Tyrrell County Warren County Washington County Yancey County

Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/12/2026 10:45 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:
Alleghany County, Avery County, Bertie County, Camden County, Caswell County, Chowan County, Clay County, Currituck County, Gates County, Graham County, Hertford County, Hyde County, Jones County, Macon County, Madison County, Northampton County, Pamlico County, Pasquotank County, Perquimans County, Polk County, Swain County, Tyrrell County, Warren County, Washington County, Yancey County

Trend for the following could not be reliably determined due to small number of deaths per year:
Alexander County, Anson County, Ashe County, Bladen County, Chatham County, Cherokee County, Columbus County, Dare County, Davie County, Duplin County, Granville County, Greene County, Hoke County, Jackson County, Lincoln County, Martin County, McDowell County, Mitchell County, Montgomery County, Orange County, Person County, Rockingham County, Sampson County, Scotland County, Stokes County, Transylvania 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.