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Report to the nation finds continuing declines in cancer death rates since the early 1990s; Feature highlights cancers associated with excess weight and lack of sufficient physical activity

March 29, 2012 Comments off

Report to the nation finds continuing declines in cancer death rates since the early 1990s; Feature highlights cancers associated with excess weight and lack of sufficient physical activity

Source: National Cancer Institute

Death rates from all cancers combined for men, women, and children continued to decline in the United States between 2004 and 2008, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2008. The overall rate of new cancer diagnoses, also known as incidence, among men decreased by an average of 0.6 percent per year between 2004 and 2008. Overall cancer incidence rates among women declined 0.5 percent per year from 1998 through 2006 with rates leveling off from 2006 through 2008.

The report is co-authored by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Cancer Society. It appeared early online on March 28, 2012, in the journal CANCER.

The special feature section highlights the effects of excess weight and lack of physical activity on cancer risk. Esophageal adenocarcinoma, cancers of the colon and rectum, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, endometrial cancer, and breast cancer among postmenopausal women are associated with being overweight or obese. Several of these cancers also are associated with not being sufficiently physically active.

Categories: cancer, National Cancer Institute

The Nation’s Investment in Cancer Research: An Annual Plan and Budget Proposal Fiscal Year 2011

April 1, 2011 Comments off

The Nation’s Investment in Cancer Research: An Annual Plan and Budget Proposal Fiscal Year 2011 (PDF)
Source: National Cancer Institute

Biomedical science’s understandings of the inner workings of the cancerous cell and the host tissue in which it resides are accelerating at an unprecedented pace. Genomic research is contributing — virtually on a daily basis, it often seems — to our catalogue of knowledge about the mutations, genomic alterations, and processes of cancer. In an era when targeted cancer therapies are no longer a prediction but an accumulating reality, the challenge we face is to continue to turn groundbreaking science into lifesaving care, at an even greater speed.

This document is the story of opportunity: how NCI is exploiting the confluence of unexpected new financial resources and a steady stream of scientific and technological advances, in order to make strides in cancer risk reduction, early detection, patient care, and survivorship.

Categories: business and economics, cancer, government and politics, National Cancer Institute, science

Report to nation finds continued declines in many cancer rates; special feature highlights changes in brain tumor rates and survival

March 31, 2011 Comments off

Report to nation finds continued declines in many cancer rates; special feature highlights changes in brain tumor rates and survival
Source: National Cancer Institute

Rates of death in the United States from all cancers for men and women continued to decline between 2003 and 2007, the most recent reporting period available, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The report also finds that the overall rate of new cancer diagnoses for men and women combined decreased an average of slightly less than 1 percent per year for the same period.

A graph with two lines, one in blue showing lung cancer death rates peaking for men in the 1980s and another in red showing lung cancer death rates for women just starting to decline in 2007The drop in cancer death rates continues a trend that began in the early 1990s. The report finds, for the first time, lung cancer death rates decreased in women, more than a decade after rates began dropping in men.

The report is co-authored by researchers from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Cancer Society. It appeared online March 31, 2011, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and in print on May 4, 2011.

Of special note, childhood cancer incidence rates (rates of new diagnoses) continued to increase while death rates in this age group decreased. Childhood cancer is classified as cancers occurring in those 19 years of age or younger.

Overall cancer incidence rates in men were essentially unchanged. There was a very small uptick in prostate cancer rates, and if these rates were excluded from the analysis, there would be a continued decline in overall male incidence rates.

In the Special Feature section of the report, the authors explore the diversity of brain tumors and other nervous system cancers beyond those that are identified as malignant, including those that are borderline and benign. The researchers analyzed data between 2004 and 2007 and found that in adults, non-malignant tumors were about twice as common as malignant tumors.

+ Full Report (PDF)
+ Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2007, Featuring Trends in Brain Cancer: Questions and Answers

Categories: cancer, documents in the news, National Cancer Institute
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