Anal cancer incidence statistics

Cases

New cases of anal cancer each year, 2017-2019 average, UK

 

Proportion of all cases

Percentage anal cancer is of total cancer cases, 2017-2019, UK

 

Age

Peak rate of anal cancer cases, 2017-2019, UK

 

Trend over time

Change in anal cancer incidence rates since the early 1990s, UK

 

Anal cancer is not among the 20 most common cancers in the UK, accounting for less than 1% of all new cancer cases (2017-2019).[1-4]

In females in the UK, anal cancer is not among the 20 most common cancers (less than 1% of all new female cancer cases). In males in the UK, it is not among the 20 most common cancers (less than 1% of all new male cancer cases).

66% of anal cancer cases in the UK are in females, and 34% are in males.

Anal cancer incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) rate Open a glossary item) for persons are similar to the UK average in all the UK constituent countries.

Anal cancer is one of the few non-sex-specific cancer types which is more common in women than in men, this is probably due to sex differences in risk factor prevalence.

Anal Cancer (C21), Average Number of New Cases Per Year, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK, 2017-2019

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Female Cases 851 91 58 24 1,024
Crude Rate 3.0 3.2 3.6 2.5 3.0
AS Rate 3.1 3.1 3.4 2.7 3.1
AS Rate - 95% LCL 3.0 2.7 2.9 2.1 3.0
AS Rate - 95% UCL 3.2 3.5 3.9 3.4 3.2
Male Cases 449 45 28 11 533
Crude Rate 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.2 1.6
AS Rate 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.4 1.8
AS Rate - 95% LCL 1.7 1.5 1.5 0.9 1.7
AS Rate - 95% UCL 1.9 2.1 2.3 1.8 1.9
Persons Cases 1,300 136 86 35 1,557
Crude Rate 2.3 2.5 2.7 1.9 2.3
AS Rate 2.5 2.5 2.7 2.1 2.5
AS Rate - 95% LCL 2.4 2.2 2.4 1.7 2.4
AS Rate - 95% UCL 2.5 2.7 3.0 2.5 2.5

95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C21.

Last reviewed:

In the UK in 2017-2019, on average each year a quarter of new cases (25%) were in people aged 75 and over. [1-4]

Age-specific incidence rates rise from around age 35-39, more steeply for females than males. Rates drop around age 75-79 for females and around 80-85 for males. The highest rates are in the 75 to 79 age group for females and the 85 to 89 age group for males.

Incidence rates are significantly higher for females than males in a number of (mainly older) age groups. The gap is widest at age 45 to 49, when the age-specific incidence rate is 2.1 times higher for females than males.

Anal Cancer (C21), Average Number of New Cases per Year and Age-Specific Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, UK, 2017-2019

For anal cancer, like most cancer types, incidence increases with age. This largely reflects cell DNA damage accumulating over time. Damage can result from biological processes or from exposure to risk factors. A drop or plateau in incidence in the oldest age groups often indicates reduced diagnostic activity perhaps due to general ill health.

See also

Find out more about the counting and coding of this data

Anal cancer mortality statistics by age

Cancer incidence statistics by age for all cancers

References

  1. Data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (part of Public Health England), on request through the Office for Data Release, July 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/cancerregistrationstatisticsengland/previousReleases
  2. Data were provided by ISD Scotland on request, April 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications.
  3. Data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-incidence-in-wales-2002-2018/, March 2021.
  4. Data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry on request, May 2020. Similar data can be found here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C21.

Last reviewed:

Anal cancer European age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item incidence rates for females and males combined increased by 77% in the UK between 1993-1995 and 2017-2019.[1-4] The increase was larger in females than in males.

For females, anal cancer AS incidence rates in the UK increased by 118% between 1993-1995 and 2017-2019. For males, anal cancer AS incidence rates in the UK increased by 29% between 1993-1995 and 2017-2019.

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), anal cancer AS incidence rates for females and males combined increased by 31%. In females AS incidence rates increased by 42%, and in males rates increased by 14%.

Anal Cancer (ICD-10 C21), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, Persons Population, 1993 to 2019

Anal cancer incidence rates have increased overall in most broad age groups in females in the UK since the early 1990s, but have remained stable in some.[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have remained stable, in 25-49s have increased by 158%, in 50-59s have increased by 237%, in 60-69s have increased by 174%, in 70-79s have increased by 63% and in 80+s have increased by 35%.

Anal Cancer (ICD-10 C21), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates per 100,000 Female Population, By Age, UK, 1993-2019

Anal cancer incidence rates have varied between age groups in males in the UK since the early 1990s.[1-4 ] Rates in 0-24s have remained stable, in 25-49s have increased by 67%, in 50-59s have increased by 93%, in 60-69s have increased by 48%, in 70-79s have remained stable and in 80+s have remained stable.

Anal Cancer (ICD-10 C21), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates per 100,000 Male Population, By Age, UK, 1993-2019

For anal cancer, like most cancer types, incidence trends largely reflect changing prevalence of risk factors and improvements in diagnosis and data recording. Recent incidence trends are influenced by risk factor prevalence in years past, and trends by age group reflect risk factor exposure in birth cohorts.

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 1993-2019, ICD-10 C21.

Last reviewed:

The number of new anal cancer cases on average each year in the UK is projected to rise from around 1,900 cases in 2023-2025 to around 2,400 cases in 2038-2040.[1]

Anal cancer incidence rates are projected to rise by 14% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 3 cases per 100,000 people on average each year by 2038-2040.[1] This includes a larger increase for females than for males.

For females, anal cancer European age standardised (AS) Open a glossary item incidence rates in the UK are projected to rise by 18% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 4 cases per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1] For males, AS rates are projected to rise by 4% between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 2 cases per 100,000 per year by 2038-2040.[1]

Anal cancer (C21), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, by Sex, UK, 1993-2040

Download the data table (xlsx)

References

Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, February 2023. Age-period-cohort modelling approach described here, using 2020-based population projections (Office for National Statistics) and observed cancer incidence (1975-2018 for England, Scotland and Wales, 1993-2018 for Northern Ireland).

About this data

Projections are based on incidence data from 1975-2018 (England, Scotland and Wales) and 1993-2018 (Northern Ireland); the above figure presents all UK data from 1993-2018 (observed) and 2019-2040 (projected). Number of new cases and age-standardised rates are presented as annual averages for each 3-year rolling period. ICD-10 codes C21.

Projections are based on observed incidence rates and therefore implicitly include changes in cancer risk factors and diagnosis. Confidence intervals are not calculated for the projected figures. Projections are by their nature uncertain because unexpected events in future could change the trend. It is not sensible to calculate a boundary of uncertainty around these already uncertain point estimates. Changes are described as 'increase' or 'decrease' if there is any difference between the point estimates.

More on projections methodology

Last reviewed:

Anal cancer incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) rates Open a glossary item) in England in females are 60% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least, and in males are 89% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least (2013-2017).[1]

It is estimated that there are around 260 more cases of anal cancer each year in England than there would be if every deprivation quintile had the same age-specific crude incidence rates as the least deprived quintile. Around 160 of these cases are in females, and around 100 in males.

Anal Cancer (C21), Estimated Average Number of Excess Cases per Year and European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, by Deprivation Quintile, England, 2013-2017

See also

Data table: Cancer incidence rates and excess cases by cancer type in England

Incidence by deprivation for all cancer types combined

Anal cancer mortality by deprivation  (not directly comparable with incidence by deprivation)

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Scotland

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Wales

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Northern Ireland

References

  1. Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, April 2020. Based on method reported in National Cancer Intelligence Network Cancer by Deprivation in England Incidence, 1996-2010 Mortality, 1997-2011 . Using cancer incidence data 2013-2017 (Public Health England) and population data 2013-2017 (Office for National Statistics) by Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2015 income domain quintile, cancer type, sex, and five-year age band.

About this data

Data is for England, 2013-2017, ICD-10 C21.

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

Citation

You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK content for your own work.
Credit us as authors by referencing Cancer Research UK as the primary source. Suggested styles are:

Web content: Cancer Research UK, full URL of the page, Accessed [month] [year].
Publications: Cancer Research UK ([year of publication]), Name of publication, Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when reused unaltered): Credit: Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when recreated with differences): Based on a graphic created by Cancer Research UK.

When Cancer Research UK material is used for commercial reasons, we encourage a donation to our life-saving research.
Send a cheque payable to Cancer Research UK to: Cancer Research UK, 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ or

Donate Online 

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.