HEALTHCARE
American Cancer Society Data Shows Drop in Cancer Deaths
At an accelerated pace , the number of people dying from cancer is dropping .
Compiled by Staff , Researchers American Cancer Society
The risk of dying from cancer in the United States has decreased over the past 28 years according to annual statistics reported by the American Cancer Society ( ACS ). The cancer death rate for men and women combined fell 32 percent from its peak in 1991 to 2019 , the most recent year for which data were available .
Some of this drop appears to be related to an increase in the percentage of people with lung cancer who are living longer after diagnosis , partly because more people are being diagnosed at an early stage of the disease .
Cancer continues to be the second most common cause of death in the US , after heart disease . A total of 1.9 million new cancer cases and 609,360 deaths from cancer are expected to occur in the United States in 2022 , which is about 1,670 deaths a day .
These statistics don ’ t include either basal cell or squamous cell skin cancers because U . S . cancer registries are not required to collect information on these cancers . These numbers also do not account for the effect the COVID‐19 pandemic has likely had on cancer diagnoses and deaths because they are projections based on reported cases through 2018 and deaths through 2019 .
“ Cancer Statistics , 2022 ,” published in the American Cancer Society ’ s journal CA : A Cancer Journal for Clinicians , provides the estimated numbers of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States this year . The estimates are some of the most widely quoted cancer statistics in the world .
The 32 percent drop in cancer death rate between 1991 and 2019 translates to almost 3.5 million fewer cancer deaths during these years than what would have been expected if the death rate had not fallen . This success is largely because of fewer people smoking , which resulted in declines in lung and other smoking-related cancers .
Other factors that contributed to the reduced death rate include :
◾ Chemotherapy after surgery for breast and colon cancer ;
◾ Combination treatments for many cancers ;
◾ Prevention and / or early detection through screening for some cancers , including cancer in the breast , cervix , colon , prostate , rectum and more recently , lung .
Chemotherapy after breast and colon surgery results in a higher survival rate .
The risk of death from cancer dropped by about 2 percent per year from 2015 through 2019 compared to 1 percent per year during the 1990s . Accelerating declines in the cancer death rate show the power of prevention , screening , early diagnosis , treatment and an overall potential to move closer to a world without cancer .
The researchers note that improving upon the success of the reduced cancer death rate will require more investments from national , state and local levels in two equally important areas :
◾ Cancer research that expands knowledge and advances treatment options ;
◾ Making sure that successful , targeted cancer control interventions are more broadly and equitably applied to all populations .
The outlook is more promising than ever for lung cancer at all stages of disease . In recent years , more people with lung cancer are being diagnosed when the cancer is at an early stage and living longer as a result .
The rate of localized-stage disease diagnosis increased by 4.5 percent yearly from 2014 to 2018 , while there were steep declines in advanced disease diagnoses . The result was an overall increase in 3-year survival rates . In 2004 ,
21 out of 100 people diagnosed with lung cancer were living three years after their diagnosis . By 2018 , that number had risen to 31 out of 100 people . Increased survival is also largely due to improvements in :
◾ Tests to diagnose lung cancer ;
◾ Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery ;
◾ Updates to pathologic staging ;
◾ Drugs that target the most common gene mutations in lung cancer .
“ Improved lung cancer outcomes may also reflect increased access to care through the Affordable Care Act ,” says Rebecca Siegel , MPH , lead author of Cancer Statistics , 2022 , and Senior Scientific Director of Surveillance Research at ACS . “ Plus , the ACS and USPSTF first recommended screening for lung cancer in 2013 , so screening — even with low rates — still could have helped increase the diagnosis of localized-stage disease ,” she says .
Here are some other statistics about lung cancer :
◾ Lung cancer still causes more than 350 deaths each day , which is the highest number of deaths for all types of cancer
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