Cancer Research Shows Death Rate Dropping

Declines in smoking, better tumor detection and more effective treatments are now helping more people survive cancer or live longer. It’s the first annual decrease in total cancer deaths since 1930. Although the numbers are small – dropping from 557,271 in 2002 to 556,902 in 2003 – they are significant because falling rates have surpassed the increasing size of the population.


American Cancer Society statistics show that death rates have declined for lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer – the most common cancers that account for 51 percent of all U.S. cancer deaths. Breast cancer death rates have dropped about 2 percent each year since 1990, while prostate cancer deaths have declined 4 percent annually after 1994.

Lung cancer deaths in men have been dropping since 1991, but they held steady in women, who tended to take up smoking later than men. Colon and rectum cancer death rates have shrunk by 2 percent a year since 1984, due to better screening.

It may be too early to rejoice over this good news. Cancer is most frequently found in older people, and aging Baby Boomers may push the statistics up in the next decade or two. However, research in genetics, advances in medical equipment and the latest drug therapies may yet show that a corner has been turned in the ongoing war on cancer.

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