The Iowa Cancer Registry, at the University of Iowa, has been tracking cancer cases, survival rates, and deaths from cancer in the state since 1973. The wealth of data has enabled researchers to learn that Iowa, for example, has the second-highest cancer rate (or incidence) in the United States and the highest rate of head and neck cancer in the country. Such knowledge triggers resources—money, research, and doctors—to focus on how to prevent and better treat cancer.

The Iowa Cancer Registry (ICR), based in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, is one of the 9 original NCI-funded registries in the US and has been providing students with unique educational and research opportunities that give them a head start in the professional careers.

The 2022 Cancer in Iowa report issued by the Health Registry of Iowa highlights the importance of cancer screenings to detect the disease early, when treatment is likely to be more successful.

African Americans in Iowa are getting cancer and dying from it at higher rates than any other group in the state. According to the 2021 Cancer in Iowa report issued by the State Health Registry of Iowa, the age-adjusted cancer mortality rate for Black people in Iowa is more than 25% greater than it is for white people.

The 2020 Cancer in Iowa report, released in March 2020 by the State Health Registry of Iowa, estimates 18,700 new cancers will be diagnosed among Iowa residents this year, an increase of 600 cases from 2019. Breast cancer will remain the most common type of cancer diagnosed among females, while prostate cancer remains the most common type among males.

While the overall number of new cases for most types of cancer in Iowa remains mostly unchanged, the number of cancers related to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is on the rise. According to the 2019 Cancer in Iowa report issued today by the State Health Registry of Iowa, women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with HPV cancers. However, the incidence of HPV cancers among men is increasing, largely driven by increases in HPV-positive oropharyngeal (middle throat) cancers.