Cancer Deaths Decreasing, Report Shows

A large new report on cancer is showing a hopeful trend: Deaths from cancer are decreasing.

Cancer deaths decreased by 1.8 percent for men each year between 2004 and 2008, and 1.6 percent for women, according to the American Cancer Society report. Cancer cases decreased by 0.6 percent each year for men and didn't decrease or increase for women during the study period.

Deaths from lung cancer decreased the most, accounting for 40 percent of the total decline in cancer deaths for men and 34 percent of those for women, according to the Cancer Statistics 2012 report. Colorectal, breast and prostate cancer deaths also decreased.

"This is really very exciting," report co-author Ahmedin Jemal of the American Cancer Society told ABC News. "Of course, the decrease is due to improvements in cancer prevention, early detection and treatment."

The report, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, estimates that because of continued declines in cancer deaths between 1991/1992 and 2008, about 1,024,400 deaths from cancer were prevented.

However, there are still 1,638,910 new cases of cancer and 577,190 deaths from cancer projected for the coming year, according to the report.

In addition, a Special Section also published in the journal shows that rates of some less-common cancers increased over the study period. Cancers of the pancreas, thyroid, liver and kidney, as well as the skin cancer melanoma, all increased between 2004 and 2008. Esophageal adenocarcinoma and some subsites of oropharyngeal cancer (linked with the human papillomavirus, or HPV) also increased.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek explains the possible reason for this:

While higher incidences of pancreatic, liver and esophageal cancers may be the result of added testing or rising obesity, it's not clear why other less-common cancers are growing in prevalence, the report said. People are living longer so lifestyle choices at earlier ages and viruses they were exposed to, such as hepatitis or the human papillomavirus, may spur tumors as people get older, the report suggested.

Recently, a study conducted by the American Association for Cancer Research showed that half of all cancer deaths are preventable by changing things like diet, sedentary lifestyle and other personal behaviors. Reduced smoking has already helped to save lives.

[Flickr/Wikimedia] photo by eyesplash.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Kenz300]

11:10 AM on 01/08/2012

Smoking has decreased......

[madisonhack]

08:15 AM on 01/07/2012

I'd like to thank the UW Transplant Center; it's team of professionals including the best doctors and nurses in the world, and a community committed to continuation of care and excellence in delivery. I received a lifesaving liver transplant on my birthday over the holidays, setting a record operating room time of 4 hours - start to finish - with no blood products used. I left the OR without a breathing tube and was talking immediately after post op surgery. Walked and ate solid food the next day. I was home in less than six days.

How can I possibly have another bad day the rest of my life?

[gallon]

12:58 PM on 01/07/2012

Great to hear this madisonhack! A healthy and prosperous new year to you. And the next one. And the one after that.

[madisonhack]

05:35 PM on 01/07/2012

I circulated a recall petition today. You can too.

[madisonhack]

05:37 PM on 01/07/2012

....and thank you very much!

[Kellybelle22]

03:12 PM on 01/07/2012

Congratulations to you! What wonderful news, and I'm so happy to read how well you're doing.
No wonder you'll have good days from now on. You know how lucky you were, don't you? Livers for transplanting don't come along every day. All the best to you with your continued recovery.

[madisonhack]

05:45 PM on 01/07/2012

Trust me - I've been called five times since Thanksgiving, on the OR table 4 times without a good organ until last week. Luck isn't the word for it.

[Rami Najjar]

09:33 PM on 01/06/2012

It's a shame that pancreatic cancer rates are increasing. What a devastating disease. And it's even more frustrating that many cases could be prevented through diet. (Powerful video about this here: http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/largest-study-ever/)

[farmilyman]

01:37 AM on 01/06/2012

It correlates with the rise in consumption of organic food.

[Iatros78]

11:40 AM on 01/05/2012

"The American Cancer Society estimates that about one-third of cancer deaths in 2012 will be caused by tobacco use and another third will be related to overweight or obesity, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition." (http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/News/annualreport-more-than-a-million-cancer-deaths-avoided-in-2-decades)

[hgoodguy]

10:58 AM on 01/05/2012

I believe that one of the causes is Early Detection. There is so much they can discover with certain testing. I am a living testament because I took a PSA test and was dignosed with Prostate Cancer. Because it was found early (Stage 2) it had not spread and was treated and cured with Radiation Seed Implants followed by External Beam Radiation Treatments.
I am on Medicare thank goodness because if I had to battle it out with an Insurance Compnay, the result might have been different.

[madisonhack]

08:18 AM on 01/07/2012

My initial liver transplant was denied by insurance - a sure death sentence - but due to the UW Transplant Center's reputation and the sheer number of procedures that they perform there, my insurance reversed it's position and I received a transplant.....on my birthday over the holidays. God bless us.

[hgoodguy]

10:51 AM on 01/07/2012

Glad to hear that you were able to have the Transplant. I can't say for sure but I strongly suspect that Medicare would probably have approved it without all the time and stress that you were put through with the Insurance Company. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[kissgrits]

01:36 AM on 01/05/2012

a drop in cancer deaths is wonderful. i believe it is in part due to people aware and of course the leaps that science has made to combat the disease. as the mother of a terminal cancer son (stage 5, ewings sarcoma) i hope that one day all cancers will respond to treatment and the cancer patient will recover as opposed to be in remission.

[Shashi0224]

09:07 AM on 01/05/2012

Sending good thoughts your way.....and to your son.

[marisah]

10:10 AM on 01/05/2012

Wishing all the best to you and your son!