Cancer Deaths On The Decline In Men And Women

A new report from the American Cancer Society has found that the number of men and women dying from cancer is on the decline.

According to the agency cancer death rates decreased by 1.8 percent per year in men and 1.6 percent per year in women from 2004 through 2008. The study also found that cancer incidence rates declined overall by 0.5 percent in men while remaining stable in women.

However even with a decline in certain types of cancers the study still found that specific cancers were still increasing in frequency including pancreatic and melanoma cancers.

The report found that 577,000 people will die from cancer in 2012 while 1,638,000 people will be diagnosed with the potentially life ending disease.

Published in the  CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (Jan. 4 Edition) the study also found the following interesting information (compiled by MSNBC):

• Death rates continued to decline between 2004 and 2008 for all four major cancer sites (lung, colorectum, breast and prostate), with the drop in lung cancer’s death rate accounting for almost 40 percent of the decline in men, and the drop in breast cancer’s rate accounting for 34 percent of the decline in women.
• About 1,024,400 cancer deaths (732,900 in men and 291,500 in women) were averted between 1991 and 2008 as a reflection of 18 years of consistent declines in cancer death rates.
• Compared with Whites, African-American men and women have poorer chances of surviving once cancer is diagnosed. The five-year relative survival rate is lower in African Americans than in Whites for every stage of diagnosis, for nearly every type of cancer.
• Further drops in the death rate could be accelerated by applying existing cancer knowledge across all segments of the population, with an emphasis on those groups in the lowest socioeconomic bracket.

At this time doctors are not sure what is causing some types of increases to occur and other cancers to see decreases. At the heart of the declines and inclines doctors believes obesity and early detection could be negative and positive contributors.

Date from the report was pulled from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Remember even with cancer cases on the decline doctors still recommend regular health checkup, especially in older adults who are more prone to disease.