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Annual Report Shows Overall Decline in U.S. Cancer Death Rates; Cancer Burden is Expected to Rise with an Aging Population
I received this through another list server and thought you would be
interested.
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
3050 Traymore Lane
Bowie, MD 20715-2024
E-mail: jenday1@email.msn.com (H)
-----Original Message-----
From: Grissom, Mike [mailto:mikeg@slac.stanford.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 10:05 AM
To: 'Medhp-Sec (E-mail)'
Subject: MEDHP-SEC: US NIH PR re: Annual Report Shows Overall Decline in
U.S. Cancer Death Rates; Cancer Burden is Expected to Rise with an Aging
Population
----------
Office of Communications
Mass Media Branch
Building 31, Room 10A19
Bethesda, MD 20892
National Institutes of Health:
NCI Press Office (301) 496-6641
American Cancer Society (212) 382-2169
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (770) 488-5131
National Institute on Aging (301) 496-1752
North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (217)
698-0800
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
12:01 a.m. EDT Tuesday, May 14, 2002
For an in-depth interview with two of the authors of this
report in both text and audio formats, along with
animations and a related article, please go to:
http://newscenter.cancer.gov/behindnews/
*****
Annual Report Shows Overall Decline in U.S. Cancer Death
Rates; Cancer Burden is Expected to
Rise with an Aging Population
New data for 1999 show that death rates for all cancers
combined continued to decline in the United States.
However, the number of cancer cases can be expected to
increase because of the growth and aging of the
population in coming decades, according to a report
released today. The "Annual Report to the Nation on the
Status of Cancer, 1973-1999, Featuring Implications of
Age and Aging on the U.S. Cancer Burden" is published in
the May 15, 2002 (Vol. 94, No. 10, pages 2766-2792),
issue of Cancer.*
The report is by the National Cancer Institute (NCI);
the American Cancer Society (ACS); the North American
Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR); the
National Institute on Aging (NIA); and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including the
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion.
The initial Report to the Nation, issued four years ago,
documented the first sustained decline in cancer death
rates. This trend was a notable reversal from increases
that had been seen since the 1930s, which was the period
when record keeping on deaths first included the entire
nation.
"The continuing decline in the rate of cancer deaths
once again affirms the progress we've made against
cancer, but the report also highlights the need for an
acceleration of research as the population of the United
States ages," said NCI Director Andrew C. von
Eschenbach, M.D.
Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer death
in the United States. During the most recent reporting
period, it accounted for almost one-third of cancer
deaths in men and about one-fourth of cancer deaths in
women. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of
cancer death, followed by breast and prostate cancer.
"The good news in this report is the continuing fall in
cancer death rates by slightly more than one percent
per year between 1993 and 1999," said John R. Seffrin,
Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer
Society. "Of special note is the continuing decline in
death rates for the four most common cancers."
According to James S. Marks, M.D., director of CDC's
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion, "Another important issue in the report
is that the incidence rate, or rate of new cancers, for
all cancers combined was stable during most of the
1990s, after increasing during the 1970s through 1980s.
These data highlight the need for the rapid, full
application of all we know about prevention, screening,
and treatment of cancer."
The single most important risk factor for cancer is age.
Because the U.S. population is both growing and aging,
the authors focused on how, even if rates of cancer
remain constant, the number of people diagnosed with
cancer will increase.
The authors projected the cancer burden in about 50
years from now by applying U.S. Census Bureau population
projections to current cancer incidence rates. "If
cancer rates follow current patterns, we anticipate a
doubling from 1.3 million people in 2000 to 2.6 million
people in 2050 diagnosed with cancer," said Holly L.
Howe, Ph.D., executive director of NAACCR. "The number
of cancer patients age 85 and over is expected to
increase four-fold in this same time period," said Howe.
NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D., notes that "the
data presented in the report underscore a critical need
for expanded and coordinated cancer control efforts to
serve an aging population and reduce the burden of
cancer in the elderly."
Furthermore, the authors posit a number of strategies
for dealing with the future cancer burden. Special
considerations in treating cancer in older people will
need to be undertaken due to co-morbid conditions and
physical limitations that haven't been studied fully
in older age groups. Increasing representation of older
patients in clinical trials could help answer questions
about how best to treat older people with cancer. The
authors also note, in particular, the growing need for
trained cancer care professionals.
Certain changes and limitations in reporting data for
this fifth report preclude comparisons with previous
reports. For this report, unlike previous reports, age
adjustment of statistics used the year 2000 standard
population -- in contrast to the year 1970 standard
population, which makes rates of certain cancers appear
20 percent to 50 percent higher. This change conforms
to new federal policy for reporting disease rates.
Also, a change in how cause of death is coded, starting
with 1999 deaths, further complicates comparisons with
previous years.
Annual population counts at the county level prior to
1990 are available for blacks and whites only.
Therefore, assessment of long-term trends in other
population groups is not possible. The report has
examined recent patterns of cancer occurrence in
specific racial and ethnic populations such as Asian
and Pacific Islanders, American Indians/Alaska Natives,
and Hispanics. For the latest time period from 1995
through 1999, cancer rates among these groups were
considerably different.
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.
# # #
For additional background on this report, a set of
Questions and Answers can be found at:
http://newscenter.cancer.gov/pressreleases/2002reportq&a.html
For more information, visit the following Web sites:
SEER Homepage:
http://www.seer.cancer.gov
(This site contains all data points for graphs in
the manuscript, as well as supplementary data and
charts. Click on the icon "1973-1999 Report to
the Nation")
National Cancer Institute:
http://www.cancer.gov/
American Cancer Society:
http://www.cancer.org
CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control:
http://www.cancer.org
CDC's National Center for Health Statistics
mortality report:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/dvs/mortdata.htm
NAACCR:
http://www.naaccr.org/
NIA:
http://www.nia.nih.gov/
* The authors of this year's report are Brenda K.
Edwards, Ph.D. (NCI), Holly L. Howe, Ph.D. (NAACCR),
Lynn A.G. Ries, M.S. (NCI), Michael J. Thun, M.D.
(ACS), Harry M. Rosenberg, Ph.D. (CDC), Rosemary
Yancik, Ph.D. (NIA), Phyllis A. Wingo, Ph.D. (CDC),
Ahmedin Jemal, Ph.D. (ACS), and Ellen G. Feigal,
M.D. (NCI).
----------
The above may be viewed on the NIH Web site at URL:
http://newscenter.cancer.gov/pressreleases/2002reportnation.html
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