DCPC Works: Cancer News from CDC

MMWR Article Shows Racial Differences in Breast Cancer Death Rates

Black women and white women get breast cancer at about the same rate, but black women die from breast cancer at a higher rate than white women, according to a study in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Between 2010 and 2014, breast cancer death rates fell more quickly among white women than black women except for those younger than age 50, among whom rates fell at the same pace. The largest difference was among women who were 60 to 69 years old: breast cancer death rates dropped 2% per year among white women, compared with 1% per year among black women.

Members of National Cancer Registrars Association Visit CDC

Mary Lewis; Netta Apedoe, MPH; Fran Babcock; Vicki Benard, PhD; Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH; and Renita Blake, PhD met with representatives from the National Cancer Registrars Association on October 6. They discussed adding the occupation Medical Registrar to the 2020 edition of the Standard Occupational Classification, to help ensure a highly skilled workforce to prevent and control chronic disease.

New Paper on the Cost of Cancer Survivorship

Sun Hee Rim; Gery P. Guy Jr., PhD, MPH; Donatus Ekwueme, PhD; and others co-authored "The impact of chronic conditions on the economic burden of cancer survivorship: a systematic review." They found that cancer survivors who also have other chronic conditions paid more for health care than cancer survivors without other chronic conditions.

New Study Estimates Percentages of Former Smokers by County

In a new study, DCPC researchers led by Zahava Berkowitz and researchers in CDC's Division of Population Health, found big differences in current and former smoking status between states and in counties in the United States. This is the first study to look at the percentage of people who are former smokers at the county level. These data are useful in tracking public health progress in tobacco control and in program planning.

Paper Estimates CIN Trends from 2007 to 2014

Vicki Benard, PhD led a study entitled "Population-based incidence rates of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in the human papillomavirus vaccine era." The study used an HPV Pap registry in New Mexico to estimate trends in CIN, which can lead to cervical cancer. The authors showed a drop in CIN of all grades among girls and women who were 15 to 29 years old, some of whom had been vaccinated against HPV.

NASEM to Host November Conference on Care in Low-Resource Areas

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will host a conference on cancer care in low-resource areas of the country. The conference, called "Cancer Care in Low-Resource Areas: Cancer Treatment, Palliative Care, and Survivorship Care: A Workshop," will be held in Washington, DC on November 14 and 15. Participants will discuss ways to improve cancer care in the developing world.