Death rates from cancer continue to fall in the United States, dropping more than 2 percent per year from 2002 through 2004, cancer experts reported on Monday.They found important declines in deaths from lung, prostate and colorectal cancers in men, as well as in breast and colon cancer among women. Lung cancer deaths were still on the rise among women but this increase slowed, according to the report.
“The significant decline in cancer death rates demonstrates important progress in the fight against cancer that has been achieved through effective tobacco control, screening, early detection, and appropriate treatment,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said in a statement.
The annual decline in cancer death rates from 2002 to 2004 was nearly twice the decrease of 1.1 percent per year from 1993 through 2002.
“The evidence is unmistakable: we are truly turning the tide in the cancer battle,” said John Seffrin, executive officer of the American Cancer Society. “The gains could be even greater if everyone in the U.S. had access to essential health care, including primary care and prevention services.”
An estimated 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society, and 560,000 will die of it.
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