# Mortality Source: https://onco.cc/terms/mortality/ OnCo record `mortality` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence. ## TL;DR The number of deaths from a disease in a population per year. Cancer mortality has fallen about a third since 1991 in the US, mostly from less smoking, earlier detection and better treatment. ## Summary Mortality rates are the hardest measure of progress, because they are immune to the biases that inflate incidence and survival statistics: finding more harmless cancers raises incidence and apparent survival but does not reduce deaths. A screening test is only proven if it lowers disease-specific mortality in a randomised trial, as mammography, colonoscopy and low-dose CT for smokers have and PSA screening only marginally has; 'stage shift' is a surrogate for this. Cancer is now the leading cause of death in many high-income countries as heart disease declines, and global cancer deaths are rising with ageing populations even as age-adjusted rates fall. ## Fields - Kind: Term - Last checked: 2026-09-09 - Also known as: mortality rate; mortality rates; cancer mortality; cancer deaths; deaths per 100,000; death rate; death rates; cancer-specific mortality; disease-specific mortality; all-cause mortality; case fatality; mortality benefit; mortality reduction; reduce mortality; reduces mortality; fatal; cancer death ## Sources - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortality_rate - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortality_rate ## Connected records - terms: [Incidence versus prevalence](https://onco.cc/terms/incidence-vs-prevalence/), [Overall survival (OS)](https://onco.cc/terms/os/), [Prognosis](https://onco.cc/terms/prognosis/), [Screening](https://onco.cc/terms/screening/), [Stage shift](https://onco.cc/terms/stage-shift/) - technologies: [Cancer registries and population surveillance](https://onco.cc/technologies/cancer-registries-surveillance/) - key papers: [Allemani 2018: CONCORD-3, global surveillance of cancer survival 2000 to 2014](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-allemani-concord-3-lancet-2018/), [Bray 2018: GLOBOCAN 2018, worldwide incidence and mortality for 36 cancers](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-bray-globocan-2018-cacancer-2018/), [Calle 2003: overweight, obesity and death from cancer in 900,000 US adults](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-calle-obesity-cancer-mortality-nejm-2003/), [Chen 2016: Cancer statistics in China, 2015](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-chen-cancer-statistics-china-2015-cacancer-2016/), [Ferlay 2015: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-ferlay-globocan-2012-methods-ijc-2015/), [Ferlay 2019: GLOBOCAN 2018 sources and methods](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-ferlay-globocan-2018-methods-ijc-2019/), [Ferlay 2021: cancer statistics for the year 2020, an overview](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-ferlay-cancer-statistics-2020-overview-ijc-2021/), [Fitzmaurice 2017: the Global Burden of Disease estimate of cancer in 2015](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-fitzmaurice-gbd-cancer-2015-jamaoncol-2017/), [Jemal 2007: Cancer statistics, 2007](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jemal-cancer-statistics-2007-cacancer-2007/), [Jemal 2008: Cancer statistics, 2008](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jemal-cancer-statistics-2008-cacancer-2008/), [Jemal 2009: Cancer statistics, 2009](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jemal-cancer-statistics-2009-cacancer-2009/), [Jemal 2010: Cancer statistics, 2010](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jemal-cancer-statistics-2010-cacancer-2010/), [Jemal 2011: Global cancer statistics (GLOBOCAN 2008)](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-jemal-global-cancer-statistics-2011-cacancer/), [Parkin 2005: Global cancer statistics, 2002](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-parkin-global-cancer-statistics-2002-cacancer-2005/), [Rahib 2014: projecting US cancer incidence and deaths to 2030](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-rahib-projecting-cancer-deaths-2030-cancerres-2014/), [Siegel 2012: Cancer statistics, 2012](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2012-cacancer-2012/), [Siegel 2013: Cancer statistics, 2013](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2013-cacancer-2013/), [Siegel 2014: Cancer statistics, 2014](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2014-cacancer-2014/), [Siegel 2015: Cancer statistics, 2015](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2015-cacancer-2015/), [Siegel 2016: Cancer statistics, 2016](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2016-cacancer-2016/), [Siegel 2017: Cancer statistics, 2017](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2017-cacancer-2017/), [Siegel 2018: Cancer statistics, 2018](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2018-cacancer-2018/), [Siegel 2019: Cancer statistics, 2019](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2019-cacancer-2019/), [Siegel 2021: Cancer statistics, 2021](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2021-cacancer-2021/), [Siegel 2022: Cancer statistics, 2022](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2022-cacancer-2022/), [Siegel 2023: Cancer statistics, 2023](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2023-cacancer-2023/), [Siegel 2024: Cancer statistics, 2024, the American Cancer Society's annual US report](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-siegel-cancer-statistics-2024-cacancer-2024/), [Sung 2021: GLOBOCAN 2020, the year breast cancer overtook lung cancer as the most diagnosed cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-sung-globocan-2020-cacancer-2021/), [Torre 2015: Global cancer statistics, 2012](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-torre-global-cancer-statistics-2012-cacancer-2015/) - journals: [The Lancet Global Health](https://onco.cc/journals/lancet-global-health/) --- JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/mortality.json