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Key Statistics Cancer Death Rates
The nation's cancer burden and the National Cancer Program's success in reducing the burden can be measured in several ways: numbers of new cases, numbers of deaths, proportion of patients surviving cancer, and quality of life among cancer survivors. For some cancers, research has already paid off in reduced death rates. Between 1991 and 1995: The overall cancer death rate in the United States declined 2.6 percent, falling 4.3 percent in men and 1.1 percent in women. From 1971 to 1990, by contrast, the death rate rose 7.8 percent in men and 6.9 percent in women. (All rates are age-adjusted to the 1970 U.S. population.) The death rate for colon and rectal cancer in men and women has dropped 5.4 percent, reflecting the success of early detection and better treatment. With better surgical techniques, drugs, and hormone therapy, and greater use of screening mammography, the breast cancer death rate in women has fallen 6.3 percent. After a difficult battle to reduce the popularity of cigarette smoking, lung cancer rates in men have begun to fall. Their overall lung cancer death rate is down 6.7 percent, and among men under 65 years old, the rate is down 13.8 percent. The prostate cancer death rate began to decline after a decades-long increase, falling 6.2 percent, compared with a 21 percent rise from 1971 to 1990. The death rate in men under 65 years old declined 10 percent. The reasons for this decline are unclear.
Other cancers continue to take an increasing toll on American lives, pointing to the importance of continued support for a strong, broadly based National Cancer Program. From 1991 to 1995: Lung cancer rates among women continued to rise. The death rate is up 6.4 percent overall, rising 14.3 percent in women aged 65 and older, while falling 4 percent in women under age 65. The death rate for lymphatic cancers continued to rise, largely due to the increasing mortality from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Lymphatic cancer deaths in men and women are up 3.8 percent overall; down 0.9 percent in those under age 65, and up 6.5 percent in those aged 65 and older.
Statistics are from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (January 1997) and from the American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts and Figures1997, which contains estimates based on SEER data. The Cancer Information Service provides a nationwide telephone service for cancer patients, and their families, the public, and health care professionals. The toll-free number is 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237); services are provided in English and Spanish. People with TTY equipment may call 1-800-332-8615. |
