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ACS: More than 1.5 million cancer deaths averted since 1991
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A 22% decline in the US cancer death rate during the past 2 decades can be equated to the avoidance of more than 1.5 million deaths that would have occurred if peak rates had persisted, according to results of the Cancer Statistics 2015 report conducted by the American Cancer Society.
Rebecca L. Siegel, MPH, director of surveillance information at the ACS, and colleagues evaluated cancer incidence data from SEER, CDC and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries databases. Researchers compared these data with mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
The cancer death rate per a population of 100,000 declined 22%, or from 215.1 in 1991 to 168.7 in 2011. The mortality rate declined approximately 15% in the South, whereas declines ranged from 25% to 30% in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Delaware.
Researchers observed that the average yearly mortality declines from 2007 to 2011 — which were greater in men (1.8%) than in women (1.4%) — were largely driven by declines in lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer deaths. The death rate for lung cancer declined 36% for males from 1990 to 2011 and 11% for females from 2002 to 2011. Early detection and treatment also are associated with the 35% decline in death from breast cancer and the 47% decline in death from colorectal cancer.
However, mortality from oropharynx, anus, liver, pancreas and soft tissue cancers increased in men and women. Further, the death rate has increased for tonsil cancer and melanoma among men and for uterine cancer among women. Researchers noted the death rate from thyroid cancer has increased slightly in men and women.
2015 projections
Researchers estimate that 1,658,370 new cancer cases will occur in the United States in 2015, and 589,430 people will die of cancer. The projected death rate equates to approximately 1,600 deaths per day.
About half of the cancer cases in men are projected to be prostate (26%), lung and bronchus (14%), colon and rectum (8%) cancers. Breast cancer will be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women (29%), followed by lung and bronchus (13%), and colon and rectum (8%) cancers.
Lung cancer is predicted to be the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men (28%) and women (26%), followed by breast cancer in women (15%), prostate cancer in men (9%) and colon and rectum cancer in men and women (men, 8%; women, 9%).
Researchers also calculated that the lifetime probability of having cancer is 43% for men and 38% for women.
“Further reductions in cancer death rates can be accelerated by applying existing cancer control knowledge across all segments of the population, with an emphasis on those in the lowest socioeconomic bracket and other disadvantaged populations,” Siegel and colleagues concluded.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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