Report Shows Increases and Decreases in Cancer Statistics

The number of new cancer cases in the U.S. is expected to increase 3.8 percent, to a record 1.33 million this year. On a good note, the American Cancer Society has predicted that the death rates for the top four killer cancers will decline.

In the American Cancer Society's annual Cancer Facts & Figures report, the organization predicts that cancer deaths will rise slightly this year, but the increase is due to the aging of a large part of the population.

The five-year survival rate for all cancers except non-melanoma skin cancer and most non-invasive cancers is expected to be 62 percent - the same as last year. According to the report, death rates will decline for lung, colon, breast, and prostate cancer.

The top cancer killer is lung cancer. Lung cancer is expected to claim 157,200 lives this year; colorectal cancer, 57,100; breast cancer, 39,800; and prostate cancer, 28,900. The report predicts new cases of lung cancer will total 171,900; colorectal cancer, 147,500; breast cancer, 211,300; and prostate cancer, 220,900-for 2003.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. behind heart disease. Cancer accounts for one in four deaths and claims more than 1,500 lives each day. For blacks, the cancer rate is about 30 percent higher than the rate for whites. Prostate cancer death rates are more than twice as high in black men, compared to white men.

Dr. Michael Thun, vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research at the cancer society, says poverty and lack of access to health care contributes to the higher cancer rate among blacks. The encouraging news is that cancer incidence and mortality has decreased more among black men than any other racial or ethnic group between 1992 and 1999.

Tobacco use remains the most preventable cause of death and is expected to account for about 180,000 deaths in 2003-about 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. Many other cancer deaths can be prevented because they result from a disease linked to poor nutrition, physical inactivity, obesity and other factors related to lifestyle.

Among nonsmokers, diet and physical activity are the two most important lifestyle factors in determining cancer risk, the cancer society says in Cancer Prevention & Early Detection, a report that accompanies the annual statistical report. Poor nutrition causes about a third of U.S. cancer deaths, and Americans fall well short of the American Cancer Society's dietary guidelines.

Sedentary lifestyles also contribute to cancer, as exercise reduces the risk of breast and colon cancer and possibly pancreatic, prostate, lung, and endometrial cancers. Yet, in 2000, 39 percent of American adults had no leisure-time physical activity and only about a third had moderate physical activity.

Inactivity combined with overeating contributes to obesity, a risk factor for cancers including colon, endometrial, prostate, kidney, esophageal, and breast cancer. And the percentage of obese Americans aged 20 to 74 has soared from about 13 percent in 1960 to 31 percent in 2000.

The cancer society encourages cancer screenings to promote early detection, as well as other cancer-related checkups that can detect thyroid, oral, skin lymph node, testicular and ovarian cancers.

Source: Health Scout News

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