Choice of Doctor for Cancer Survivor Care Does Not Match Actual Care
New research suggests there’s a mismatch between the type of doctors cancer survivors say they prefer for on-going cancer care and who they actually see. An American Cancer Society (ACS) study showed that most cancer survivors preferred their primary care physician (PCP) and cancer doctor (oncologist) to share their on-going cancer care and for their PCPs to take charge of their preventive health care and management of chronic health conditions. But in the last 4 years, only 60% of survivors had seen a cancer doctor, while 96% had seen a PCP.
Rapidly Growing Older Population Increases Demand for Cancer Care in US
A new report from the American Cancer Society details rates of new cancer cases and cancer deaths among adults 85 years old and older, often called the “oldest old.”
Study: Lack of Education About Melanoma May Contribute to Black-White Survival Disparities
t’s true that people with darker skin have a lower risk of melanoma. But as a recent study showed, it’s also true that non-Hispanic black Americans are more likely to have lower survival rates when they are diagnosed. That’s partly because compared with non-Hispanic whites, people with darker skin are more often diagnosed with later-stage melanoma (after it’s spread). It’s also because the most common type of melanoma among non-Hispanic blacks—called acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM)—has a lower survival rate.
More Colorectal Cancer Diagnoses in People Under 55 Aren’t Only Because of More Colonoscopies
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is being diagnosed more often in the United States among adults younger than age 55. Does this mean more of them are getting colorectal cancer? Or are doctors finding it more often because more younger adults are having colonoscopies? In a study published in the Journal of Medical Screening, researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) found that colonoscopy trends don’t completely line up with the rates of colorectal cancer diagnosis by age, so more screening doesn’t fully explain the rise in CRC cases.