Steepest Ever Drop In Cancer Deaths In U.S. Reported

There was good news last week in the fight against cancer.

For the second year in a row, the number of cancer deaths in the United States has fallen. And, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society, this year's decline in cancer deaths was by far the steepest ever.

The findings, published in both the new edition of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and the American Cancer Society's Facts & Figures 2007, show a drop of 3,014 cancer deaths in the United States from 2003 to 2004 ( the most recent year available ). That's significantly larger than the 369 fewer deaths reported from 2002 to 2003.

Also in the report, drops in cancer deaths were seen across all four major cancer sites in men and women (lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal), except for lung cancer among women. Colorectal cancer showed the largest decrease in the number of deaths.

Medical authorities at the American Cancer Society are predicting 1,444,920 new cases of cancer this year and cancer will likely claim 559,650 people in 2007. In New York 100,960 new cancer cases and 35,270 cancer deaths are estimated in 2007.

While the death rate for all cancers combined has decreased in the United States since 1991, not until 2003 was the decrease large enough to outpace the aging and growth of the U.S. population, resulting in two consecutive years of dropping cancer deaths. The larger drop in cancer deaths in 2004 is evidence that the decline may continue. Still, the report points out that although progress continues to be made in reducing mortality rates, cancer remains the leading cause of death in Americans under age 85.

Other highlights from the report include:

+Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women in 1987.

+African American men have a 15 percent higher incidence rate and 38 percent higher death rate than white men.

+African American women have a 9 percent lower incidence rate, but an 18 percent higher death rate than white women for all cancer sites combined.

+Cancer is the second leading cause of death among children between ages one to 14 years in the U.S., after accidents.

The full report can be viewed at www.cancer.org/statistics.

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