‘Steepest ever’ drop in Cancer deaths recorded in US: Report

Hard work towards preventing cancer in the first stage and making available more effective treatment has marked a drop in cancer deaths for second year in a row in the United States, a new American Cancer Society report shows.

According to Cancer Statistics 2007, fewer people died of cancer in 2004 than in 2003. The report is published in the January issue of the ACS journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians posts more than 3,000 fewer cancer deaths in America in 2004 as compared to 2003.

The first dip in cancer deaths was seen between 2002 and 2003 when authorities reported a fall of 369 deaths.

While African-Americans are more likely than any other group to develop cancer and die from it, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders are less vulnerable than whites, report states.

Also, while drop in deaths from three of the four major forms of cancer -- breast, prostate and colorectal were recorded among women, men posted the highest fall in lung cancer.

Citing causes of the significant drop, Ahmedin Jemal, a cancer epidemiologist explained, “It was caused by a combination of factors, including a decrease in cigarette smoking among men, wider screening for colon, prostate and breast cancer, and better treatments for women.”

Accounting for one in every four cancer cases in women, breast cancer claimed 40,954 lives in 2004. Increased mammography and more aggressive therapy have been credited for the decline.

The supplement to the main article, Cancer Facts & Figures 2007 that estimates the number of cancer cases and deaths in the coming year, approximated nearly 1,444,920 new cases of cancer with about 559,650 cancer deaths in 2007.

Both incidence and death rates have dropped for breast cancer in recent years. Around 112,340 cases and 52,180 deaths are expected in 2007, Cancer Facts & Figures 2007 reports.

Prostate cancer deaths are also recording a huge drop, agencies report. About 27,050 deaths are expected in 2007 with about 218,890 new cases reporting.

Lung cancer that tops the killer list of malignancies among both, men and women shows decline in deaths after success of anti-smoking campaigns launched decades ago.

Around 112,340 fresh cases and 52,180 deaths are expected in 2007 for colorectal cancer.