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By Rebecca Viksnins
Snowden
Cancer death rates are falling steadily, according to the
American Cancer Society's annual cancer statistics report, Cancer
Facts & Figures 2009, and its companion article "Cancer Statistics, 2009,"
published in the Society's CA:
A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The drop is driven in
large part by better prevention, increased use of early detection
practices, and improved treatments for cancer.
Cancer death rates dropped 19.2% among men during 1990-2005
and 11.4% among women during 1991-2005. Cancer incidence rates are also
on the decline – they decreased 1.8% per year among men from 2001-2005
and 0.6% per year from 1998-2005 among women.
RESOURCES:
Read the report.
Listen to ACS Chief Medical Officer Otis Brawley, MD discuss this year's statistics.
"A drop of 1 or 2% per year may sound small, but as this
report shows, that adds up to 650,000 cancer deaths avoided over 15
years," said John R. Seffrin, PhD, American Cancer Society chief
executive officer. "And because the rate continues to drop, it means
that in recent years, about 100,000 people each year who would have
died had cancer rates not declined are living to celebrate another
birthday. That is undeniable evidence of the lifesaving progress that
we as a country must dedicate ourselves to continuing."
ACS researchers estimate that there will be about 1,479,350
million new cancer cases and about 562,340 cancer deaths in 2009. For
all cancers diagnosed from 1996-2004, the 5-year relative survival rate
is 66%, up from 50% in 1975-1977. That increase reflects improvements
in both early
detection and treatment.
Decreases in deaths from lung,
prostate,
and colorectal
cancer accounted for nearly 80% of the decline in death rates among
men, while decreases in breast
and colorectal cancer made up 60% of the decrease among women. Those
numbers suggest early detection practices – using colonoscopy to catch
colon cancer early, for example -- are working, and also reflect
improvements in treatment. The decline in the lung cancer death rate
among men is due to drops in tobacco use;
the lung cancer death rate among women has stabilized after increasing
for many decades.
According to the report, prostate, lung, and colorectal
cancers account for about half of all cancer diagnoses among men; in
women, breast, lung, and colorectal cancer account for about half of
new cancer cases. Together, these cancers account for almost half of
the cancer deaths among men and women.
African-American men have an 18% higher incidence rate and 36%
higher cancer death rate compared to white men, according to the
report. African-American women are less likely than white women to get
cancer, but when they do get it, they're more likely to die from it.
ACS researchers also noted that lung cancer rates vary greatly
regionally, reflecting differences in tobacco use among states. In
contrast, rates for other cancers – breast and prostate, for example –
tended to be similar across the country.
Each year, ACS researchers include a special section in Cancer
Facts & Figures highlighting an issue of cancer research or
care. This year, researchers offer the latest information about cancer
survivors' risk for developing a second cancer.
For more information, see Cancer
Facts & Figures 2009.
Reviewed by:
Members of the ACS
Medical Content Staff
Citation:
"Cancer Statistics, 2009."
Published online May 27, 2009 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Corresponding author: Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD, Surveillance and Health
Policy Research, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia. 
ACS News Center stories are provided as a source of cancer-related
news and are not intended to be used as
press releases.
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