Breckenridge – While Colorado cancer rates remain below national averages, there has been a rise in skin cancer in the state in the last 12 years, according to a study released Thursday.
The rate for melanoma, the most common skin cancer, rose for men to 25 per 100,000 from 17 per 100,000 between 1990 and 2002, according to Colorado Cancer Coalition data.
The rate for women in Colorado edged up slightly during the same period to 17 per 100,000, the study said.
The coalition, which is sponsored by the state health department, released the data at a statewide cancer conference.
Among the other findings were that the overall chance of getting cancer declined slightly between 1990 and 2002 and, during the same period, the chances of surviving the disease rose slightly.
Still, 17,455 Coloradans were diagnosed with some form of cancer in 2002, and in 2003 some 6,400 died from the disease.
Minorities continue to make up a disproportionate share of the cancer cases, the report said.
For example, the average cancer death rate for African-Americans was 216 per 100,000 compared with 176 per 100,000 for whites between 1998 and 2002.
The two most common cancers in the state are breast cancer, with a rate of 128 per 100,000 in 2002, and prostate cancer, with a rate of 161 per 100,000.
Last year, the state legislature created a commission to find ways to manage and reduce the burden of chronic diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The cancer portion of the chronic-disease commission will have as its “guidebook” the cancer coalition’s 2005 Colorado Cancer Plan, said Sara Miller, a member of the coalition.
Among the coalition targets for 2010 that Miller outlined Thursday are:
Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303-820-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com.
