US Cancer rates decline, breast
cancer up
WASHINGTON
June 6, 2001 (Cancer Digest) -- Fewer people in the United States
get cancer and the number of people dying from the disease is
declining, according to new data released by a consortium of
cancer registries.
That good news was
tempered by an increase in the number of people diagnosed with
breast cancer between 1992 and 1998, the period covered by the
report compiled by the North American Association of Central
Cancer Registries.
The report, released
by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, summarizes
the progress of the nation's efforts to cure cancer.
"This welcome
news on declining rates underscores the incredible progress we've
made against cancer, but it also reminds us that our fight is
far from over," said Thompson in a press release.
"That is why we
are aggressively promoting cancer-related research at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). HHS has proposed an increase of $514
million for cancer-related research at NIH in 2002, a 12 percent
increase over current year spending," he said.
The report shows that
the incidence rate for all cancers combined -- the number of
new cancer cases per 100,000 persons per year -- declined on
average 1.1 percent per year between 1992 and 1998.
This overall trend
reversed a pattern of increasing incidence rates from 1973 to
1992. Most of the decline can be attributed to a 2.9 percent
yearly decline in white males and a 3.1 percent yearly decline
in black males.
"These findings
highlight the progress we've made against cancer but also underscore
the critical need for research and for equitably applying what
we already know to sustain this progress," said NCI Director
Dr. Richard D. Klausner.
Four cancer sites --
lung, prostate, breast, and colorectum -- accounted for about
56 percent of all new cancer cases and were also the leading
causes of cancer deaths for every racial and ethnic group, which
includes white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska
Native, and Hispanic populations. Because these sites comprise
over half of all cancer cases, they have a strong influence on
overall cancer trends.
Breast cancer makes
up 16.3 percent of all cancer cases and accounts for 7.8 percent
of all deaths due to cancer. Breast cancer death rates have continued
to decline due to improvements in early detection and treatment.
However, breast cancer incidence rates have increased by more
than 40 percent from 1973 to 1998.
Why breast cancer cases
continue to rise is unknown, according to Dr. Brenda Edwards,
final author of the report. One explanation is that more early
stage disease is being diagnosed, suggesting that use of aggressive
screening and early detection, primarily mammography, may account
for part of this increase.
"The extent to
which other factors, such as more obesity and post-menopausal
hormone use, may contribute to the increase is unknown,"
said Edwards.
A similar rise in prostate
cancer, which accounts for 14.8 percent of all cases, occurred
in the late 1980s with the introduction of screening for Prostate
Specific Antigen (PSA). Subsequently, however, rates have started
to decline.
Lung cancer remains
the biggest contributor to the nation's overall cancer rate accounting
for 13.2 percent of the cases and 29 percent of cancer deaths.
Overall, lung cancer incidence rates decreased 1.6 percent per
year between 1992 and 1998, due mainly to a decline of 2.7 percent
per year in men and a leveling off of rates in women, both manifestations
of reductions in tobacco smoking since the 1960s.
Besides breast cancer,
10 other relatively rare cancers accounting for 13 percent of
all cancers saw increased incidence during the reporting period.
The report is based
on incidence data from NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and
End Results (SEER) program, the CDC's National Program of Cancer
Registries (NPCR), and NAACCR. Mortality data come from the CDC's
NCHS.
Additional information
and background on this report can be found on the NCI's Questions and Answers Web page.
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