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Report: Rates of deadliest cancers stay level
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Advances in detecting and treating cancer, along with the battle against tobacco use, have helped stabilize death rates from the four top cancer killers, according to a U.S. government report released Tuesday. Cancer remains the second biggest cause of death in the United States, after heart disease, but a steady increase in cancer deaths seen in the early 1990s has been stopped and even reversed in some cases, the report found. "Overall cancer death rates declined from 1994 through 1998 and then stabilized from 1998 through 2000," the report, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, read. "This annual report to the nation on cancer suggests that cancer incidence and death rates are levelling off after recent decades." The American Cancer Society says nearly 1.3 million Americans were diagnosed with cancer and 500,000 died from cancer in 2002. Lung cancer is by far the biggest cancer killer, taking 157,000 lives this year. Colon cancer will kill 57,000 people in the United States this year, breast cancer will kill 40,000, and prostate cancer will kill 29,000 men. The report, from the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society and the National American Association of Central Cancer Registries, finds a decline in death rates from all four cancers since 1990. "Death rates in the United States for all cancers combined increased by 0.5 percent per year through 1990, stabilized through 1994 and declined by 1.4 percent per year from 1994 through 1998," the researchers wrote. From 1998 to 2000 the rates have not changed significantly, added the researchers, who said they took care to adjust the statistics to reflect the aging population. For instance, lung cancer rates rose 2.58 percent from 1975 to 1982, rose another 1.08 percent from 1982 to 1991, then fell 0.9 percent from 1991 to 2000. Broken down by sex, however, the statistics show that lung cancer rates and deaths fell for men but continued to rise for women -- following smoking trends, which began falling in men just as women began to smoke more. NCI director Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said biomedical advances -- such as better screening, diagnoses and treatment techniques, had helped. "This report shows that we have made some progress in reducing the burden of cancer in the United States, but much still needs to be done ... including wider application of what science has shown to be effective in preventing, screening, and treating cancer," said CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding. The report, which can be found on the Internet at http://www.cancer.gov, includes the largest number of Americans yet, from 34 statewide cancer registries. They cover 68 percent of the U.S. population -- versus 55 percent in previous years. The report says death rates could be lowered even further with better screening -- for instance, for colon cancer. A report earlier this year from the Institute of Medicine said lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and better diet and better screening could prevent almost 100,000 new cancer cases and 60,000 cancer deaths each year. About 25 percent of the U.S. population smokes, despite its clear links with lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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