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#50212 04-10-2007 06:50 AM
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 525
PeteyB Offline OP
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"Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts)

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Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
U.S. cancer deaths declined for the second year in a row in 2004, but there are worrisome signs that progress could falter, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.
Deaths fell by 3,014 following a decline of 369 deaths in 2003. Although the number of cancer deaths in women increased slightly in 2003, the number fell for both sexes in 2004, the first time since the government began keeping death statistics in the 1930s.
The death rate for all cancers combined has dropped for 12 consecutive years, a total of 13.6 percent. But that drop was smaller than the population growth for the first 10 years, so that an actual decline in the number of deaths did not occur until 2003.
The drop "is a remarkable sign that we have the potential to turn back deaths from cancer," said John R. Seffrin, chief executive of the cancer society. "But this report shows that we have been losing momentum in some key areas that have been critical to our success."
Declines in adult and youth tobacco smoking have leveled off and mammography is still not reaching a third of the population at risk.
Nearly a third of all cancer deaths this year will be a direct result of smoking, the report said, and another third are attributable to poor nutrition, obesity and physical inactivity. Many deaths in the remaining third could be prevented by screening to detect cancers early.
But progress in controlling tobacco use by both adults and adolescents has stalled. Tobacco industry efforts to promote smoking outspent control programs 23 to 1.
Obesity is another important risk factor, and it has been rising dramatically, doubling in adults to 33.3 percent between 1976 and 2004 and tripling in adolescents to 17.1 percent.
Screening programs are underutilized, Seffrin said. Among women over 40, 69.7 percent have had a mammogram in the past two years. For women without health insurance, the figure drops to 40.2 percent.
Screening for colorectal cancer has fared even worse. A little more than 42 percent of people over 50 have had either a fecal occult blood test in the last year or a colonoscopy in the last five years. If such screening were universally employed, the report said, half of the 52,180 deaths expected this year could be prevented.


DX 3-21-07 L tongue,SCC Stage IV (T3N2MO) TX Slash/Burn/Poison Method.
***Rapid Aggressive Recurrence 8-4-07 with same DX/TX. Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. Never Give Up! ****UPDATE**** Our dear friend Petey passed away, RIP 9-2-07
#50213 04-10-2007 12:09 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,912
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OCF Founder
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Please note that at the same time ACS issued this "progress" report, the incidence rate of oral cancer increased 11% this year alone. As usual, the oral cancer story gets left out of the news. Especially when it shows that the ACS report is not the whole story, and a partial picture at best.


Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
#50214 04-10-2007 01:18 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,019
Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
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Well, but same issues. Not enough people getting simple early screenings that could save their lives. Colonoscopies every 5 years are almost 100% effective at preventing advanced colon cancer from ever happening, it's a shame there's still over 50% of the population not getting one when they should.


SCC(T2N0M0) part.glossectomy & neck dissect 2/9/05 & 2/25/05.33 IMRT(66 Gy),2 Cisplatin ended 06/03/05.Stage I breast cancer treated 2/05-11/05.Surgery to remove esophageal stricture 07/06, still having dilatations to keep esophagus open.Dysphagia. "When you're going through hell, keep going"

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