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Interpretation of Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer Data

Death Rate/Trend Comparison by Cancer, 2019-2023

North Carolina Counties versus United States

Lung & Bronchus

All Races, Both Sexes

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


North Carolina


Richmond County


Tyrrell County


Onslow County


Robeson County


Scotland County


Graham County


Sampson County


Caswell County


Columbus County


Rockingham County


Caldwell County


Randolph County


Davidson County


Wayne County


Yadkin County


Surry County


McDowell County


Gates County


Johnston County


Perquimans County


Vance County


Bladen County


Jones County


Harnett County


Craven County


Halifax County


Swain County


Hoke County


Lenoir County


Hertford County


Northampton County


Edgecombe County


Martin County


Gaston County


Anson County


Stanly County


Alexander County


Burke County


Cumberland County


Alamance County


Davie County


Washington County


Stokes County


Pender County


Carteret County


Rowan County


Rutherford County


Currituck County


Bertie County


Wilkes County


Cleveland County


Duplin County


Madison County


Yancey County


Greene County


Mitchell County


Wilson County


Franklin County


Beaufort County


Granville County


Person County


Cherokee County


Forsyth County


Haywood County


Nash County


Pasquotank County


Lincoln County


Dare County


Alleghany County


Catawba County


Pitt County


Iredell County


Ashe County


Pamlico County


Brunswick County


Chowan County


Camden County


Warren County


Lee County


Guilford County


Cabarrus County


Montgomery County


Macon County


Moore County


New Hanover County


Union County


Henderson County


Clay County


Transylvania County


Buncombe County


Jackson County


Avery County


Durham County


Polk County


Mecklenburg County


Watauga County


Wake County


Orange County


Chatham County


Hyde County

Notes:
Created by statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov on 03/16/2026 9:53 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 has been suppressed to ensure confidentiality and stability of rate and trend estimates.
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:
Hyde 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.