Death rates in America from cancer are dropping faster than ever, highlighted by a 5 percent drop among men and a 4.5 percent decline among women in colorectal cancer, the nation's No. 2 cancer killer.
A turning point came in 2002, scientists concluded Monday in the annual "Report to the Nation" on cancer. Between 2002 and 2004, death rates dropped by an average of 2.1 percent a year. That may not seem like much until compared with between 1993 and 2001 when cancer death rates fell on average 1.1 percent a year.
One reason is that colorectal cancer is striking fewer people, the report found. New diagnoses are down roughly 2.5 percent a year for both men and women, thanks to screening tests that can spot precancerous polyps in time to remove them and thus prevent cancer from forming.
Still, only about half the people who need screening — everyone over age 50 — gets checked.
"If we're seeing such great impact even at 50 percent screening rates, we think it could be much greater if we could get more of the population tested," said Dr. Elizabeth Ward of the American Cancer Society, who co-wrote the report with government scientists.
The other gain is the result of new treatments, which are credited with doubling survival times for the most advanced patients.
Among the report's other findings: Cancer mortality is improving faster among men, with drops in death rates of 2.6 percent a year compared with 1.8 percent a year for women.
Lung cancer explains much of the gender difference. Male death rates are dropping about 2 percent a year while female death rates finally are holding steady after years of increases. Smoking rates fell for men before they did for women, so men reaped the benefits sooner.
Source:Xinhua/agencies
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