NEWS

Overall Cancer Incidence, Mortality Rates Continuing to Fall, Report Shows

Mike Miller

A special article in this issue of the Journal (see p. 824) notes that the rates for new cancer cases and deaths for all cancers combined continued to decline in the United States. The annual Report to the Nation is a collaborative effort by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report shows that the incidence rate for all cancers combined declined an average 1.1% per year between 1992 and 1998. This trend reversed a pattern of increasing incidence rates from 1973 to 1992. "Cancer incidence rates declined in the 1990s for both black and white men, so perhaps the cancer gap is diminishing in these populations," said James S. Marks, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Overall cancer mortality declined 1.1% yearly for the period from 1992 to 1998. The report includes a section on a dozen cancers that have increasing trends for incidence and/or mortality. Rising incidence rates for breast cancer and mortality rates for lung cancer in women lead the list, while 10 others, which account for 13% of the total incidence and mortality in the United States, are diverse and relatively uncommon cancers, such as cancers of the esophagus, small intestine, and vulva.



             
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