Study shows 20-year drop in U.S. cancer deaths

Significant strides are being made on the war against cancer in the United States.  This is good news thanks largely to a vast reduction in smoking which has driven this 20-year decrease in mortality from cancer.

The annual report from the American Cancer Society statistics on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival shows that since 1991, more than 2.4 million Americans lives did not succumb to cancer.  Cancer is still the second leading cause of death in the U.S. right behind heart disease with approximately 4,700 Americans who are given a cancer diagnosis every day.

From 2014 to 2015, the cancer death rate dropped 1.7 percent.  Ever since 1991, rates of cancer deaths have steadily declined.   The study found since that time the decline has gone down by 26 percent. 

The study statistics found four major cancers that drove overall decline in cancer deaths down:

·      Lung cancer - down by 45 percent since 1990 among men and 19 percent since 2002 in women

·      Breast cancer - down by 39 percent since 1989

·      Prostate cancer - down by 52 percent since 1993

·      Colorectal cancer - down by 52 percent since 1970

The biggest reason for this reduction in cancer deaths is the fact fewer people are lighting up cigarettes.  However, the use of tobacco still remains the leading cause of cancer death responsible for almost three in ten deaths.  Also attributed to the decline in cancer deaths are advances in early detection and improved cancer treatments of many types of cancer.

Even though this new report is welcome news all of us want to hear, at the same time the report also predicted for 2018 that 1.7 million individuals will be diagnosed with cancer and more than 609,000 will die from it. 

Here is what the prediction from the statistics is showing for specific cancers in 2018:

·      234,000 new cases of lung cancer diagnoses with 154,000 cancer deaths

·      268,000 new cases of breast cancer diagnoses with 41,000 deaths

·      164,000 new cases of prostate cancer with 29,000 deaths

One finding from the report was the persistent gap between cancer death rates between blacks and whites.  Blacks had a 14 percent higher cancer death rate in 2015 than whites; however which is down when it peaked at 33 percent in 1993.  The gap between older blacks and whites was not as wide – just a 7 percent difference was found among blacks and white ages 65 and older.  It was assumed that this was probably due to Medicare helping improve access to care.

These new statistics from the American Cancer Society annual report reminds all of us of the importance of practicing lifestyle habits of not smoking along with eating a healthy diet, maintaining a normal weight, and achieving regular physical activity to increase our chance of not being a victim of cancer.