For the first time since the U.S. government began compiling data, the rate of cancer has declined, marking a tipping point in the fight against the second-leading cause of death among Americans.
Researchers knew the number of deaths was declining as the result of better treatment, but the drop in cancer cases indicates that major progress is being made in prevention.
“The drop in incidence . . . is something we have been waiting to see for a long time,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.
But the declines might be temporary, said Dr. Robert Figlin of the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif.
“Baby boomers are reaching the age at which they develop cancer . . . so we should not be surprised if it changes direction again.”
Researchers fear economic woes may trigger an rise in incidence as fewer people feel comfortable paying for screenings and as increased stress leads some people to resume smoking. The growing number of unemployed also means fewer people with health insurance.
The report, published online Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, was compiled by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.
Rates of all cancers combined and for men and women combined dropped by 0.8 percent per year from 1999 through 2005, with the rates for men dropping at about three times the rate for women.
Blacks had the highest rates of cancer, but that group’s decline was similar to that among whites.
The overall cancer death rate declined by an average of 1.8 percent per year over the same period.
About 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year, and an estimated 560,000 die of it.
Among the findings
• New cases of lung cancer dropped about 1.8 percent a year among men but kept rising among women, about half a percent a year. That’s because smoking rates fell for men before they did for women, so men reaped the benefits sooner. It remains the top cancer killer, but the death rate dropped 1.9 percent a year for men and 0.9 percent among women.
• The rate of new breast cancer dropped about 2.2 percent a year, due largely to millions of women abandoning hormone replacement therapy starting around 2002. The death rate dropped 1.8 percent a year.
• For colorectal cancer, the incidence rate dropped 2.8 percent a year among men and 2.2 percent among women, largely due to screening. Early detection and improved care also fueled a 4.3 percent-a-year drop in the death rate for both sexes.
• Prostate cancer turned a corner, with the incidence rate dropping 4.4 percent a year between 2001 and 2005 after rising in previous years. The change probably reflects a leveling of prostate screening that had surged in the late 1990s.
• Melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, jumped 7.7 percent a year among men and by nearly 3 percent a year among women.
The Associated Press
