STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Roughly two million Americans are expected to be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year, but historic geographic differences in cancer rates have long flummoxed researchers who still struggle to determine why certain areas, like Staten Island, see higher cancer rates than others.
Staten Island has had the highest overall cancer rate of any borough in New York City every year since 1997, according to data from the New York State Cancer Registry.
The issue has been studied numerous times throughout the years by both city and state health departments, but each time researchers have failed to identify definitive reasons for Staten Island’s continued ranking as the most cancer-prone borough.
The Staten Island Advance/SILive.com recently analyzed data from the New York State Cancer Registry to see how the borough’s cancer rates stack up against the rest of New York City.
To account for varying population levels between the boroughs, the Advance/SILive.com used rate per 100,000 population as opposed to average number of annual cases.
The data represents the five year period from 2017 through 2021, the most recent data currently available on the New York State Cancer Registry.
During that time period, Staten Island had the highest rate of any New York City borough in terms of all invasive malignant tumors, which covers all types of cancer, in addition to having the highest rate of any borough for 14 of the 23 cancers tracked by the state.
Those cancers include: oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, colorectal, pancreas, lung and bronchus, female breast, corpus and uterus and not otherwise specified (NOS), ovary, bladder, kidney and renal pelvis, brain and other central nervous system, thyroid, non-Hodgkin lymphomas and leukemias.
The borough’s rate of 508.6 cases per 100,000 population for all cancers was roughly 19% higher than the next closest borough, Manhattan, which had a rate of 427.3 cases per 100,000 population.
Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx had per 100,000 population rates of 399.2, 413.6 and 416.3, respectively.
Here’s a look at the 14 types of cancers for which Staten Island had the highest rate of any borough in New York City.
Oral cavity and pharynx
- Staten Island: 10.3 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 10.1 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 8.8 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 8.7 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 9.8 cases per 100,000 population
Esophagus
- Staten Island: 4.1 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 3.1 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 2.5 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 3.1 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 3.1 cases per 100,000 population
Colon and rectum
- Staten Island: 40.4 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 30.2 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 35.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 34.3 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 34.6 cases per 100,000 population
Pancreas
- Staten Island: 15.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 12.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 13.2 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 12.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 13.1 cases per 100,000 population
Lung and bronchus
- Staten Island: 61.4 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 41.5 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 40.2 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 39.8 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 41.7 cases per 100,000 population
Female breast
- Staten Island: 138.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 136.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 122.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 124.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 112.4 cases per 100,000 population
Corpus and uterus, NOS
- Staten Island: 34.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 28.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 30.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 29.4 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 30.9 cases per 100,000 population
Ovary
- Staten Island: 14.3 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 10.3 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 10.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 10.8 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 10.5 cases per 100,000 population
Bladder
- Staten Island: 24.1 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 16.4 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 14.4 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 14.5 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 12.7 cases per 100,000 population
Kidney and renal pelvis
- Staten Island: 20.4 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 12.2 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 13.8 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 13.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 14.0 cases per 100,000 population
Brain and other nervous system
- Staten Island: 6.7 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 6.3 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 5.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 4.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 5.1 cases per 100,000 population
Thyroid
- Staten Island: 29.4 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 16.8 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 19.1 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 18.9 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 13.9 cases per 100,000 population
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Staten Island: 23.8 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 21.1 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 17.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 17.3 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 18.5 cases per 100,000 population
Leukemia
- Staten Island: 16.0 cases per 100,000 population
- Manhattan: 13.6 cases per 100,000 population
- Brooklyn: 12.5 cases per 100,000 population
- Queens: 12.2 cases per 100,000 population
- Bronx: 11.8 cases per 100,000 population
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