Cancer deaths have declined 20% since 1991, which means there were 1.2 million fewer deaths from cancer in 2009, according to the American Cancer Society.
The overall cancer death rate decreased from 215 per 100,000 in 1991 to 173 per 100,000 in 2009. Death rates declined more sharply for colon and rectal cancers in both men and women, for cancers of the lung and prostate in men, and for breast cancers in women. The ACS attributes the drops to decreases in smoking and improvements in early detection and treatment.
The most common causes of cancer death in Americans, accounting for 50% of cancer deaths, are cancers of the colorectum, lung and bronchus, and prostate in men; and cancers of the colorectum, lung and bronchus, breast in women. This year, there will be 1.6 million cancer cases and 580,350 cancer deaths; lung cancers will account for 25% of cancer deaths in men and women this year, according to estimates from the ACS.
In men, colorectal cancer deaths declined annually by 2% during 1992-2002, 4% during 2002-2005, and 2.4% during 2005-2009; the rates in women were -1.7% during 1992-2001 and -3.1% during 2001-2009.
The mortality figures and incidence data are contained in two reports: Cancer Facts & Figures 2013 and Cancer Statistics 2013 (CA Cancer J. Clin. 2013;63:11-30).
Incidence rates are on the decline for most cancers with the exception of pancreatic, liver, and thyroid cancer, and melanoma.
Death rates from pancreatic cancer have increased over the last decade, due to what the ACS called "a lack progress in primary prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of this cancer." The ACS report included a special section devoted to updated information on the occurrence and treatment of pancreatic cancer. Most patients with pancreatic cancer die within a year of diagnosis; the overall 5-year survival rate was 6% during 2002-2008.
During 1992-2009, deaths from liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancers increased by 2.3% in men and by 1.3% in women. The incidence of those cancers increased by 3.7% and 3%, respectively, over the same time period.
The ACS also noted that the disparity in cancer outcomes based on ethnicity and income, "particularly [among] those diagnosed with colorectal or breast cancer where earlier detection and better treatments are credited for the improving trends," said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the ACS, in a statement. "We can and must close this gap so that people are not punished for having the misfortune of being born poor and disadvantaged."
The 5-year survival rate in 2002-2008 for white women with breast cancer, for instance, was 92%, whereas for black women, it was 78%. For colon cancer, the 5-year survival rate was 66% for whites, but 55% for blacks.
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