U.S. cancer rate declines for the first time
Government figures indicate that major progress is being made in prevention. But researchers warn that there are still some clouds on the horizon.
For the first time since the government began compiling records, the rate of cancer has begun to decline, marking a tipping point in the fight against the second-leading cause of death among Americans.
Researchers already knew that the number of cancer deaths was declining as the result of better treatment, but the drop in incidence indicates that major progress is also being made in prevention.
"The drop in incidence ... is something we have been waiting to see for a long time," said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. And "the continuing drop in mortality is evidence once again of real progress made against cancer, reflecting real gains in prevention, early detection and treatment."
But the declines may be temporary, said Dr. Robert Figlin of the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte. "Baby boomers are reaching the age at which they develop cancer ... so we should not be surprised if it changes direction again."
Researchers also fear that the economic meltdown may trigger a new increase in incidence as fewer people feel comfortable paying for screening tests and increased stress leads some people to resume smoking.
Incidence rates for all cancers combined and for men and women combined dropped by 0.8% per year from 1999 through 2005, with the rates for men dropping at about three times the rate for women. The only ethnic groups for which rates did not decline were American Indians and Alaskan natives.
The overall death rate declined by an average of 1.8% per year over the same period.
Currently, about 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year, and an estimated 560,000 die from it.
The decline in both incidence and death rates was due in large part to declines in the five of the six most common cancers -- lung, colorectal and prostate in men and breast and colorectal cancer in women. The sixth most common form, lung cancer in women, leveled off.
Those cancers alone account for about half of both new cases and deaths.
"Lung cancer is the big one when it comes to cancer in the United States," said Dr. John Glaspy of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The declines in lung cancer are due primarily to widespread reductions in smoking.
"It's very tough for anybody not to conclude that social trends [against] smoking are having major effects on human life.
