The overall rate of both new cancer diagnoses (incidence) and cancer deaths continued to decrease between 2003 and 2007, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published online March 31 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The decrease in cancer death rates of 1.6 percent per year continues a trend that began in the early 1990s. Overall, the decrease in incidence rates for men and women combined was 1 percent per year.
The report also showed, for the first time, that lung cancer death rates in women decreased between 2003 and 2007. In addition, although cancer incidence rates continued to increase in children 19 years of age and younger, the rate of cancer deaths in this age group fell. Among all racial/ethnic populations, cancer incidence rates and cancer death rates decreased, except among American Indian and Alaskan Natives, for whom the mortality decrease was not statistically significant.
The report, which was co-authored by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, NCI, CDC, and the American Cancer Society, provides updated statistics on cancer trends through 2007. This year’s report featured a special section on brain and other nervous system tumors, including nonmalignant brain tumors.
Nonmalignant tumors make up two-thirds of all adult brain tumors and one-third of childhood brain tumors, with meningiomas being the most common type of brain and other nervous system tumor in the United States. The authors found a decrease in the incidence of malignant neuroepithelial brain and other nervous system tumors from 1987 to 2007 and modest improvements in the 5-year survival rate for most types and age groups.
“It is gratifying to see the continued steady decline in overall cancer incidence and death rates in the United States—the result of improved methods for preventing, detecting, and treating several types of cancer,” said NCI Director Dr. Harold Varmus. “But the full repertoire of numbers reported today also reflects the enormous complexity of cancer, with different trends for different kinds of cancers, important differences among our diverse people, and different capabilities to prevent, detect, and treat various cancers. Moreover, as our population continues to age, we have an obligation to discover and deliver better ways to control all types of cancers.”
NCI Cancer Bulletin for April 5, 2011 - National Cancer Institute
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