U.S. Cancer Death Rates Continue to decline for most cancer types

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=1436207
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID AP Science Writer
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Dec 23, 2005 ? The threat of dying from cancer is on the
decline, even though the overall rate of being diagnosed with the disease
holds steady, the government says.

In its biannual update on progress in the battle against cancer, the
National Cancer Institute said Thursday that Americans are increasing
their use of screening tests to catch some cancers early, when they are
more treatable.

They are also smoking less, being more careful in the sun and consuming
less alcohol and fats, though obesity remains a problem.

"The overall message of the report remains positive," NCI Director Andrew
C. von Eschenbach said. "The evidence that I have seen convinces me that
we are poised to make dramatic gains against cancer in the near future."

The report said 488.6 new cases of cancer were diagnosed for every 100,000
Americans in 2002, very similar to the rate of 488.1 a year earlier.

At the same time, though, the death rate for all cancers was 193.6 per
100,000, down from 195.7 a year earlier and continuing a steady downward
trend.

For the four most common cancers the death rates were:
Prostate, 28.0 per 100,000, down from 28.9.
Breast, 25.4, down from 26.0.
Colorectal, 19.6, down from 20.1.
Lung, 54.8, down from 55.2.

The report charts progress against goals set for reducing cancer rates and
deaths by 2010. The first report was issued in 2001.

This year's update noted a continuing rise in lung cancer death rates in
women, but it said the rate was not increasing as rapidly as in the past.

The Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health, said
there have been continuing increases in the incidence of cancers of the
breast in women and of prostate and testis in men, as well as leukemia,
non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, melanoma of skin, and cancers of the
thyroid, kidney and esophagus.

There have been some improvements in behavior aimed to prevent cancers,
including reductions in smoking and declines in alcohol and fat
consumption, the Institute said in its report. Some of the same data were
included in the institute's annual report issued in October.






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