Hawaiʻi Cancer Statistics
Understanding Diversity
Hawaiʻi is an island state diverse in both its geography and demographics. The state's diversity plays an important role in the "Hawaiʻi Cancer at a Glance, 2014-2018," report on the variations in cancer incidence and mortality by county and across various racial and ethnic groups. Disparities in cancer risk and outcomes across racial and ethnic groups may reflect genetic variations as well as differences in diet, tobacco and alcohol use, obesity, and other lifestyle exposures.
- Annually, an average of 7,393 Hawaiʻi residents are diagnosed with invasive cancer, and 2,393 individuals die from cancer.
- There are over 66,779 Hawaiʻi residents who are cancer survivors.
- Overall cancer mortality was highest in Hawaiʻi County.
- Breast cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women.
- Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men.
- Over the past decade, increases occurred for melanoma of the skin and cancers of the oral cavity & pharynx (males and females); cancers of the kidney & renal pelvis, testis, and pancreas (males); and myeloma and cancers of the uterus/endometrium and breast (females).
- Hawaiʻi men and women had higher incidence of cancers of the liver & intrahepatic bile duct and stomach compared to the U.S. overall.
- Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer death in the state. Among females, Native Hawaiians had among the highest lung cancer incidence and mortality rates.
- Thyroid cancer incidence is highest in Filipino women.
- Whites have the highest rates of melanoma.
Learn more about cancer in Hawaiʻi, in "Hawaiʻi Cancer at a Glance, 2014-2018," by the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center's Hawaiʻi Tumor Registry.
