Cancer deaths continue to decline

CANCER DIGEST – Oct. 29, 2022 – Cancer deaths in the US continued to decline between 2015 and 2019 according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published Oct. 27, 2022 in the journal Cancer.

“Today’s report is good news in our fight against cancer and is a reminder of the importance of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot℠ initiative,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

“I’m deeply impressed by the progress we’re making against cancer and firmly believe we can meet the President’s goal of reducing the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years. We can and must end cancer as we know it.” The report shows that from 2015 to 2019 overall cancer deaths decreased by 2.1 percent per year in men and women combined. Among men the decline was 2.3 percent and among women the decrease was 1.9 percent. The cancers showing the steepest declines included lung cancer (4 percent) and melanoma (5 percent) among men and women. Death rates increased for pancreas, brain and bone cancers in men and in cancer of the pancreas and uterus in women Cancer deaths in the US continued to decline between 2015 and 2019 according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published Oct. 27, 2022 in the journal Cancer. “Today’s report is good news in our fight against cancer and is a reminder of the importance of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot℠ initiative,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “I’m deeply impressed by the progress we’re making against cancer and firmly believe we can meet the President’s goal of reducing the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years. We can and must end cancer as we know it.” The shows that from 2015 to 2019 overall cancer deaths decreased by 2.1 percent per year in men and women combined. Among men the decline was 2.3 percent and among women the decrease was 1.9 percent. The cancers showing the steepest declines included lung cancer (4 percent) and melanoma (5 percent) among men and women. Death rates increased for pancreas, brain and bone cancers in men and in cancer of the pancreas and uterus in women. Cancer incidence, the number of people diagnosed with cancer each year remained relatively stable in the years 2014 to 2018 with the number of cases in women rising slightly by 0.2% per year. The cancer incidence with the sharpest rise in men was pancreatic cancer, rising 1.1 percent per year, while the steepest decline was in lung cancer, which decreased in men by 2.6 percent. In women, melanoma rose fastest at 1.8 percent per year, while thyroid cancer fell by 2.9 percent. The annual report is a collaboration of the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease control and Prevention, the National Program of Cancer Registries and the NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Source: National Cancer Institute press release