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 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


Wise County


Lee County


Hopewell City


Lancaster County


Charlotte County


Galax City


Petersburg City


Smyth County


Sussex County


Prince Edward County


Nottoway County


New Kent County


Giles County


Colonial Heights City


Alleghany County and Clifton Forge City


Franklin City


Greensville County


Amelia County


Waynesboro City


Bristol City


Buchanan County


Warren County


Scott County


Buckingham County


Dickenson County


Roanoke City


Martinsville City


Patrick County


Tazewell County


King and Queen County


Page County


Lunenburg County


Brunswick County


Danville City


Mecklenburg County


Grayson County


Middlesex County


Westmoreland County


Amherst County


Washington County


King William County


Lynchburg City


Pulaski County


Prince George County


Halifax County with South Boston City


Covington City


Southampton County


Portsmouth City


Fairfax City


Caroline County


King George County


Dinwiddie County


Gloucester County


Salem City


Norfolk City


Staunton City


Accomack County


Winchester City


Henry County


Northumberland County


Shenandoah County


Richmond County


Poquoson City


Russell County


Essex County


Orange County


Wythe County


Charles City County


Nelson County


Pittsylvania County


Northampton County


Powhatan County


Hampton City


Newport News City


Radford City


Botetourt County


Henrico County


Bedford City and County


Chesapeake City


Louisa County


Appomattox County


Madison County


Virginia Beach City


Richmond City


Carroll County


Franklin County


Isle of Wight County


Hanover County


Frederick County


Suffolk City


Rockbridge County


Spotsylvania County


Fredericksburg City


Stafford County


Fluvanna County


Augusta County


Cumberland County


Campbell County


Mathews County


York County


Chesterfield County


Fauquier County


Rockingham County


Surry County


Floyd County


Manassas City


Culpeper County


Greene County


Roanoke County


Montgomery County


Harrisonburg City


Charlottesville City


Prince William County


Goochland County


Clarke County


James City County


Alexandria City


Rappahannock County


Falls Church City


Albemarle County


Loudoun County


Arlington County


Fairfax 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 03/17/2026 5:18 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.
** 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.