CNN
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A new report from the American Cancer Society shows that death rates from cancer in the United States have continued to decline over the past 30 years.
U.S. cancer death rates have fallen 33 percent since 1991, equivalent to an estimated 3.8 million deaths averted, according to a report released Thursday. CA: Cancer Journal for CliniciansThe proportion of people dying from cancer continued to decline by 1.5% between 2019 and 2020, the most recent year for which data are available.
Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society, said the 33% drop in cancer mortality was “really daunting.”
The report attributes this steady progress to improved cancer care, reduced smoking and increased early detection.
“New discoveries in prevention, early detection and treatment have led to truly meaningful improvements in many of the 200 diseases we call cancer,” said Knudsen.
In their report, American Cancer Society researchers also pointed to HPV vaccination as being associated with reduced cancer deaths. HPV (human papillomavirus) infection can cause cervical cancer and other types of cancer, and vaccination is associated with a reduction in new cervical cancer cases.
Among women in their early 20s, cervical cancer incidence decreased by 65% from 2012 to 2019. This is “exactly when the HPV vaccine was used,” said Dr. William Dahat, the association’s chief scientific officer.
“There are other cancers associated with HPV, whether it’s head and neck cancer or anal cancer, so there’s optimism that this is more important than that,” he said.
A new report estimates that the lifetime chance of being diagnosed with invasive cancer in the United States is 40.9% for men and 39.1% for women.
The report also includes projections for 2023, when nearly 2 million new cancer cases (equivalent to about 5,000 cases per day) will occur in the United States this year, and more than 600,000 people will be diagnosed with cancer. Presumed to be fatal.
In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, many people skipped regular checkups. Doctors have seen an increase in advanced cancer cases Following delays in screening and treatment due to the pandemic.
Researchers from the American Cancer Society were unable to track the “declines in screening observed across the country during the pandemic.” We believe it will give us the first insight into what the impact of the mortality pandemic has been.”
This new report includes data from national programs and registries such as the National Cancer Institute, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the North American Central Cancer Registry.
Data showed that cancer mortality in the United States rose for most of the 20th century, primarily due to an increase in deaths from lung cancer related to smoking. Since then, as smoking rates have declined and early detection and treatment of some cancers have improved, cancer mortality has fallen from its peak in 1991.
Since then, the pace of decline has slowly accelerated.
A new report finds that the five-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined has increased from 49% for mid-1970s diagnoses to 68% for 2012–18 diagnoses.
According to the report, currently the cancer types with the highest survival rates are 98% for thyroid, 97% for prostate, 95% for testis and 94% for melanoma.
Pancreatic cancer currently has the lowest survival rate of 12%.
Findings about a decline in cancer mortality show that “the good news continues,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, a professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University. He was not involved in this research.
“The biggest reason for the decline that began in 1991 was that smoking rates in the United States began to decline in 1965,” said Brawley, former chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.
“That’s why it started to decline in 1991, and that decline continues as smoking rates continue to decline in the United States,” he said. “Now, for certain diseases, the ability to treat them is improving, and some people are not dying as a result of treatment.”
While cancer death rates are steadily declining, the new report also highlights that new cases of breast, uterine and prostate cancer are “concerning” and rising in the United States. .
the incidence of breast cancer in women According to the report, it has increased by about 0.5% each year since the mid-2000s.
The incidence of endometrial cancer has increased by about 1% per year in women over the age of 50 since the mid-2000s, and by almost 2% per year in younger women since at least the mid-1990s.
After 20 years of decline, prostate cancer incidence increased by 3% annually from 2014 to 2019.
Knudsen called prostate cancer an “outlier.” That’s because the previous decline in incidence appears to be reversing and being driven by advanced disease diagnosis.
On Thursday, the American Cancer Society launched the Impact initiative, which aims to improve prostate cancer incidence and mortality by funding new research programs, expanding support for patients, and more. Announced.
“Unfortunately, prostate cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed malignancy among men in this country, with approximately 290,000 men expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year,” Knudsen said. said Mr. Cancers diagnosed when the cancer is confined to the prostate include: 5 year survival rate Although it is “99% or higher”, there is no permanent cure for metastatic prostate cancer.
“Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in this country,” she said. “We are reporting not only an increase in prostate cancer incidence across all demographics, but a 5% year-over-year increase in diagnoses among men with more advanced disease. So when we have the opportunity to treat men with prostate cancer, we can’t detect these cancers early.”
There are also large racial disparities in breast, uterine, and prostate cancers, with communities of color having higher mortality rates and lower survival rates.
In 2020, blacks had a 12% higher risk of dying from cancer overall compared to whites, according to a new report.
“Not all individuals or all families are equally affected,” Knudsen said.
For example, “Unfortunately, black men have a 70% increased incidence of prostate cancer compared to white men, and death rates from prostate cancer are higher than those of other ethnic and racial groups in the United States. We are seeing a two- to four-fold increase over time,” she said. she said.
Data in the new report represent “significant and consistent” advances in cancer, said Dr. Ernest Hawk, vice president for cancer prevention and population sciences at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in an email. .
“Cancer is often preventable, detectable early, and often results in better outcomes. Treatments are becoming more effective and safer when needed. That’s all great news,” Hawk wrote.
“But the time is long past for us to take health inequalities seriously and make them a national priority. We must not be satisfied with regular reminders of unbearable and avoidable injustices,” he said. “I believe that through deliberate and committed efforts, we can close these disparities and make even greater strides in ending cancer.”
