Arizona Cancer Profile

CRAAZ Member
Recent studies on cancer cases throughout the state of Arizona suggests that residents experience lower rates of cancer than the national average.

A 2009 study conducted on cancer rates in the state of Arizona analyzed the incidence of diagnosis, prevalence of type and mortality rates for residents suffering from cancer. Overall, the study concluded that Mojave County is the only county with a cancer rate higher than the national average, though the cancer rate in Mojave is falling. Graham, Greenlee, and Gila counties all presented rates similar to the U.S. average, while Apache, La Paz, Arizona, Cochise, Coconino, Maricopa, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai, and Yuma counties all presented statistics lower than the country’s average. Many of these counties also showed declining cancer rates.

Melanoma rates among men in Arizona were higher than the U.S. average. Liver cancer among females and thyroid cancers in males were similar to the average, though both show signs of rising. Conversely, liver cancer in males in Arizona was lower than the national average.

A number of cancers in Arizona were similar to the national average and were found to be a stable trend. These included brain cancer in both males and females, esophagus cancer in males and females, kidney and renal pelvis cancer in males and females, and ovarian cancer in females.

Childhood cancer in Arizona was also similar to the national average; however, the study found the incidences of childhood cancer was declining in 2009. Leukemia in females was also in decline, as was female melanoma and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in females.

Other cancers that were lower than the national average and showed signs of continued decline, include bladder cancer in both males and females, breast cancer in females, cervical cancer in females, colorectal cancer in males and females, leukemia in males, lung cancer in males and females, oral cancer in males and females, pancreatic cancer in males, prostate cancer in males, and stomach cancer in males and females.

In comparison to the rest of the country, Arizona met the healthy people objective of 160.6 and had a falling mortality rate for cancer. The United States as a whole did not meet the objective but did observe a falling mortality rate. Only four counties in Arizona failed to meet the objective – Greenlee, Mojave, Gila, and Graham. Greenlee and Graham counties saw a stable trend in their mortality rates while Mojave and Gila have begun to see a decline in their cancer mortality rates, according to the 2009 study.