International trends in cancer mortality revisited - Japan’s site-specific progress and remaining challenges until 2024

Sep 22, 2026

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This study examined recent international trends in age-standardized cancer mortality for all cancers combined and major cancer types, comparing Japan with Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States using national data from 1980 through the early 2020s. Overall cancer mortality in Japan continued to decline at a pace similar to other high-income countries, with marked stomach and liver reductions that narrowed international gaps. Persistent high mortality was observed for colorectal, pancreatic, and cervical cancers, while lung and female breast changes were slower or rising. Declining liver mortality is linked to hepatitis B and C measures and may model international practice; strengthened primary and secondary prevention remains urgent for multiple cancers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Materials and methods

International trends in cancer mortality revisited: Japan’s site-specific progress and remaining challenges until 2024 Kota Katanoda1 , * , Hirokazu Tanaka1 , Yuri Ito2 1 Division of Population Data Science, National Cancer Center Institute for Cancer Control, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 2 Department of Medical Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan *Corresponding author. Division of Population Data Science, National Cancer Center Institute for Cancer Control, Japan, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045 Japan. E-mail: [kkatanod@ncc.go.jp](kkatanod@ncc.go.jp) Abstract This study examined recent international trends in age-standardized mortality for all cancers combined and major cancer types, comparing Japan with selected countries (Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea (Korea), the United Kingdom, and the United States of America) using the latest available national data (from 1980 through the early 2020s). Overall cancer mortality in Japan continued to decline at a pace similar to that of other high-income countries. Marked reductions were observed for stomach and liver cancers in Japan, which historically had high mortality. These declines narrowed international differences, and mortality from female liver cancer in Japan has now fallen below levels in Western countries. Stomach cancer mortality rates have been continuously decreasing in Japan, while the pace was slower than that of Korea. In contrast to those decreasing cancers, Japan showed persistently high mortality for colorectal, pancreatic, and cervical cancers. Mortality from male lung cancer and female breast cancer in Japan declined only slowly or continued to rise, resulting in levels approaching those in Western countries. The decline in liver cancer is considered an effect of measures against hepatitis B and C, and could serve as an international model. The decrease in stomach cancer is also one of Japan’s progressive movements, but comparisons with Korea indicate challenges remain in secondary prevention. Strengthened primary and secondary prevention are urgently needed for colorectal, lung, female breast, and cervical cancers, which have not shown a clear decreasing tendency in Japan. Keywords cancer control, mortality, neoplasms, population surveillance, vital statistics Introduction Cancer mortality is an essential outcome indicator for cancer control. In Japan, age-standardized rates (ASRs) of overall cancer mortality have continued to decline, largely attributable to decreases in stomach, liver, and male lung cancer [1] . In the international context, the overall decline in cancer mortality in Japan is similar to that observed in other countries; however, Japan has been lagging behind for several cancer types—such as colorectal, lung, female breast, and cervical cancers—for which primary prevention, such as tobacco/infection control, and secondary prevention, such as screening, have been established [2] . Since this last report using the data up to 2016, no updated analyses have been conducted. This study aimed to descriptively compare recent trends in ASRs of mortality for all cancers combined and for specific cancer types between Japan and selected countries using the latest available national data until the early 2020s. Materials and methods Data on ASRs of all-cancer and site-specific cancer mortality in each country were obtained from the Global Cancer Observatory database, provided by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) [3]. ASRs were adjusted to the world standard population (Segi) [4]. We compared the status in Japan with that inAustralia, Canada, the Republic of Korea (Korea), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (US) . These countries were selected from the North America, Western Europe, and Western Pacific regions in terms of population size and long-term national data availability as well as consistency with our previou

FAQs

Which countries were compared with Japan in this study?

Japan was compared with Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, using the latest available national data.

What overall trend in cancer mortality was observed for Japan?

Overall cancer mortality in Japan continued to decline, with a pace similar to that seen in other high-income countries.

Which cancer sites showed persistently high mortality in Japan?

Colorectal, pancreatic, and cervical cancers showed persistently high mortality, without a clear decreasing tendency described for Japan.

Sep 22, 2026

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