Between 2003 and 2007, death rates from all cancers fell steadily in America, researchers reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Over that same period there was an average drop in deaths from all cancers of just under 1% annually, a trend that started in the early 1990s.

Lung cancer death rates among females, which continued to rise for many years, saw its first decline too, more than ten years after the male lung cancer death rate started to fall.

The report was authored by experts from NAACCR (North American Association of Central Cancer Registries), the NCI (National Cancer Institute), and the American Cancer Society.

Rates of diagnoses for childhood cancers are still increasing, but death rates are falling. The authors define a childhood cancer as one that occurs up to the age of 19 years.

Overall male cancer incidence rates have remained the same, the authors wrote. Prostate cancer rates rose very slightly. In fact, if one were to exclude prostate cancer, male new cancer diagnoses have dropped slightly.

There is a Special Feature section in the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in which researchers write about the range of brain tumors and other nervous system cancers, and not just about malignant ones, such as borderline and benign tumors. Over the 2004-2007 period they found that non-malignant tumors are twice as common as malignant ones.

Betsy Kohler, executive director, NAACCR, said:

“Our new data show that non-malignant brain tumors are far more common than malignant brain tumors, and affect different population groups. Brain tumors have a far-reaching effect on our families and friends, yet they are difficult to study due to their diversity. We hope that the collection of both malignant and non-malignant brain tumors by central cancer registries will continue to provide a significant source of information and insight to researchers.”

The following male cancer rates have fallen:

  • Lung
  • Colon
  • Colon and rectal
  • Oral cavity and pharynx
  • Brain (only malignant)
  • Stomach

    • The following have risen:

  • Kidney
  • Liver
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Pancreas

The following female cancer rates have fallen:

  • Breast
  • Lung
  • Colorectal
  • Uterine
  • Cervical
  • Bladder
  • Oral cavity

    • The following have risen:

  • Kidney
  • Pancreas
  • Thyroid
  • Melanomas of the skin
  • Leukemia

Harold Varmus, M.D., NCI Director, said:

“It is gratifying to see the continued steady decline in overall cancer incidence and death rates in the United States – the result of improved methods for preventing, detecting, and treating several types of cancer. But the full repertoire of numbers reported today also reflects the enormous complexity of cancer, with different trends for different kinds of cancers, important differences among our diverse people, and different capabilities to prevent, detect, and treat various cancers. Moreover, as our population continues to age, we have an obligation to discover and deliver better ways to control all types of cancers.”

Although African-American males and females had the highest death from cancer rates, they also showed the greatest fall between 1998 and 2007.

African-American males had the highest incidence rates for new cancers between 2003 and the end of 2007.

Caucasian women had the highest overall cancer rates among females, with breast cancer being the most commonly diagnosed new cancer among all racial and ethnic groups.

The authors added that variations in mortality rates among racial and ethnic groups, sex, and type of cancer may be impacted by socioeconomic status, access to screening and therapies, as well as risk behaviors.

John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., CEO of the American Cancer Society, said:

“As we work towards reducing the cancer burden in the population as a whole, it is important that we apply what we know about prevention, detection and treatment of cancer to populations at highest risk. While it’s promising that mortality gaps are closing for some racial/ethnic groups, continued efforts are needed to prevent the avoidable deaths that these gaps represent.”

Lung cancer is still the biggest killer, the authors inform, despite the drop in deaths among females throughout the country.

CDC Director Thomas Frieden, M.D., said:

“Lung cancer can become a rare disease if states support well-funded tobacco control programs. Aggressive ad campaigns that show the impact of smoking, combined with higher cigarette prices and strong state laws that protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, will decrease the number of adult smokers and save lives.”

Two-thirds of adult brain tumors are non-malignant (one third of childhood ones). The most common type of brain and nervous system tumors in America are meningiomas.

Modern imaging devices, such as MRIs and CT scans have not only led to less invasive diagnostic techniques, but may also have had an impact on newly diagnosed cancer rates over the last twenty years.

As novel molecular studies improve the classification of brain tumors, treatments have become more effective and prognoses more accurate.

“Annual Report to the Nation Shows Continuing Decline in Cancer Mortality”
JNCI J Natl Cancer Inst (2011) doi: 10.1093/jnci/djr141 First published online: March 31, 2011

Written by Christian Nordqvist