USA CANCER DEATH RATE DECLINING

Cancer death rates decreased by 1.8% per year in men and by 1.4% per year in women from 2006 to 2010, which are the 5 most recent years for which data are available, according to the annual cancer statistics report from the American Cancer Society.

The data were published online today in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

During the same period, cancer incidence rates in the United States declined slightly in men (by 0.6% per year) and were stable in women.

The annual cancer statistics report highlights "steady" declines in cancer death rates for the past 2 decades, amounting to a 20% drop in the overall risk of dying from cancer during that period.

The cancer death rate has declined from a peak of 215.1 per 100,000 adults in 1991 to 171.8 per 100,000 adults in 2010.

Over this longer period, there was notable progress for middle-aged black men (age, 40 - 49 years), whose death rates declined by approximately 50%. In general, black males in any age group made progress, experiencing the largest drop in death rates in every 10-year age group.

"The progress we are seeing is good, even remarkable, but we can and must do even better," said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, in a press statement. "The halving of the risk of cancer death among middle-aged black men in just 2 decades is extraordinary, but it is immediately tempered by the knowledge that death rates are still higher among black men than white men for nearly every major cancer and for all cancers combined."

The report estimates that there will be 1,665,540 new cancer cases and 585,720 cancer deaths in the United States in 2014.

For men, prostate, lung, and colon cancer will account for about half of all new cancers. Prostate cancer will continue to be the most common cancer in men, accounting for about 1 in 4 new cases (27%).

For women, the 3 most common cancers in 2014 will be breast, lung, and colon, which will account for about half of all cases. Breast cancer is expected to account for about 29% of the new cancers in women.

But lung cancer is the biggest killer in both men and women.

About a quarter of all cancer deaths in men (28%) will be due to lung cancer, according to the projections. Prostate cancer is second, accounting for 10% of estimated new cancer deaths.

And about a quarter of all cancer deaths in women (26%) will be due to lung cancer. Breast cancer is second, accounting for 15% of estimated new cancer deaths.

Black men continue to have the highest cancer incidence and death rates of all ethnicities in the United States.

In addition, the 5-year survival rates in blacks continue to lag behind whites by as much as 22 percentage points for uterine cancer, 21 percentage points for cancer of the oral cavity, and 17 percentage points for urinary bladder, the report notes.

Among minority groups diagnosed with cancer from 2003 to 2009, Asian American/Pacific Islander women had the highest probability of surviving 5 years after a cancer diagnosis (69.5%). American Indian/Alaska Native men had the lowest probability of surviving (56.8%).

CA Cancer J Clin. Published online January 7, 2014. Abstract