U.S. Cancer Deaths Continue Long-Term Decline
50k notes:- some say much of this is due to much reduced rates of cigarette smoking
- aso note this article is about cancer deaths, and not how many people simply get cancer
- lower death rates may be due to better medical quality and availability due to more affluence
According to the latest national data, overall death rates from cancer declined from 2000 through 2009 in the United States, maintaining a trend seen since the early 1990s. Mortality fell for most cancer types, including the four most common types of cancer in the United States (lung, colon and rectum, breast, and prostate), although the trend varied by cancer type and across racial and ethnic groups. The complete "Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2009" appeared January 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The report also includes a special section on cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) that shows that, from 2008 through 2010, incidence rates rose for HPV-associated oropharyngeal, anal, and vulvar cancers. HPV vaccination rates in 2010 remained low among the target population of adolescent girls in the United States.
Incidence Rates Vary, Death Rates Continue to Drop
Among men, the overall rate of cancer incidence fell by an average of 0.6 percent annually from 2000 through 2009. Cancer incidence rates were stable among women during the same time period and rose by 0.6 percent per year among children. (See the table.)
The declines in cancer mortality averaged 1.8 percent per year for men, 1.4 percent per year for women, and 1.8 percent for children (ages 0 to 14 years) from 2000 through 2009. During the same period, death rates among men fell for 10 of the 17 most common cancers and rose for three types of cancer. Death rates among women fell for 15 of the 18 most common cancers and also rose for three types of cancer.
"The continuing drop in cancer mortality over the past two decades is reason to cheer," said ACS Chief Executive Officer Dr. John R. Seffrin in a statement. "The challenge we now face is how to continue those gains in the face of new obstacles, like obesity and HPV infections. We must face these hurdles head on, without distraction, and without delay, by expanding access to proven strategies to prevent and control cancer."
HPV Vaccination Rates Low
The special section on HPV-related cancers showed that from 2000 through 2009, incidence rates for HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer increased among white men and women, as did rates for anal cancer among white and black men and women. Incidence rates for cancer of the vulva also increased among white and black women. However, cervical cancer rates declined among all women except American Indian/Alaska Natives. In addition, cervical cancer incidence rates were higher among women living in lower-income areas.
The annual report also showed that, in 2010, fewer than half (48.7 percent) of girls ages 13 through 17 had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine, and only 32 percent had received all three recommended doses, a rate that fell well short of the Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2020 target of 80 percent. The rate is also much lower than vaccination rates reported in Canada (50 to 85 percent) and the United Kingdom and Australia (both higher than 70 percent).
Vaccination series completion rates were generally lower among certain populations, including girls living in the South, those living below the poverty level, and Hispanics.
"The influence that certain viral infections can have on cancer rates is significant and continued attention to the effect[s] of HPV infection, in particular, on cervical cancer rates is critical," said NCI Director Dr. Harold Varmus in a statement. "It is important, however, to note that the investments we have made in HPV research can only have the tremendous payoff of which they are capable if vaccination rates ... increase."
Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates, 2000–2009
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Incidence | Increase
| Increase
|
| Mortality | Increase
| Increase
|
