In Maine, about 9,000 men and women will receive cancer diagnoses within the next year and approximately 3,000 might die.
MCFPC has prepared charts based on government statistics (see image on this page and table below) to look at trends in the incidence of cancer in Maine residents.
The complete tables and further statistical information can be obtained by going to the National Cancer Institute site. This national site presents the information in an interactive format that allows the user to display and download the information about Maine statistics in several formats all of which are accessible.
We compiled this information because it is natural for people to assume that the incidence of cancer in Maine (see sample chart graphic on this page) and the mortality rates (see table below) would be pretty much the same throughout the state. However, we have learned that these rates vary from county to county. For example, in Lincoln County about 457 men and women (per 100,000 people) will likely be diagnosed with cancer within the next twelve months. However, in Hancock County that number leaps to 508 cancer diagnoses (per 100,000 people).
The same differences stand out when you look at the death rates, with 168 people likely to die from cancer within the next twelve months in Lincoln County, whereas 209 people are expected to die from cancer in Washington County.
We can speculate and probably guess as to why there are such differences but we also think that these facts need to be studied more carefully with a view toward corrective actions.
| County | Annual Death Rate |
|---|---|
| Androscoggin | 193.3 |
| Aroostook | 193.8 |
| Cumberland | 176.9 |
| Franklin | 192.6 |
| Hancock | 179.7 |
| Kennebec | 204.2 |
| Knox | 171.9 |
| Lincoln | 168.1 |
| Oxford | 203.6 |
| Penobscot | 193.9 |
| Piscataquis | 201.1 |
| Sagadahoc | 182.9 |
| Somerset | 201.7 |
| Waldo | 186.6 |
| Washington | 209.3 |
| York | 180.4 |
| Maine | 187.7 |
| United States | 176.4 |
The data in this table was generated from statistics collected from National Cancer Institute website.