American Cancer Society The latest cancer reports show both positive and worrying trends: Overall cancer deaths have declined but the number of women and young adults diagnosed with cancer has increased.
The annual report published Thursday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians found that cancer death rates in the United States have declined by 34% from 1991 to 2022.
While overall cancer deaths are declining, due to factors such as Earlier detection and better treatmentThis is not true for all cancers. The report found that death rates are increasing for some types, including oral, pancreatic, uterine and liver cancers.
Racial disparities in cancer deaths also persist, the report notes.
Rates in native american people Rates of kidney, liver, stomach and cervical cancer are double or triple that of white people. black people White people are twice as likely to die from prostate, stomach and uterine cancer and 50% more likely to die from preventable cervical cancer than white people.
The report also found that more women and younger adults are getting cancer, a change. For example, the incidence of cancer among women aged 50 to 64 is higher than among men. And cancer rates among women under 50 are now 82% higher than their male counterparts, up from 51% in 2002.
“One thing we found really striking about this report is that there is an increase in the number of women diagnosed with cancer compared to men, especially ages 50 to 64,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at American Cancer Research. At the age of one year.” The society told CBS News. “Seeing this trend over time is certainly worrying and we need to look into it.”
The report doesn't determine why we're seeing these increases, but obesity rates as well as genetic and environmental factors may play a role, Dahut said.
and despite this pancreatic cancer With cancer being the third leading cause of death in the US, the report found that progress on this front has been slow. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Dahut said pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect at a treatable stage, and called for more screening and treatment options.
“This is something that has really and rightly attracted the attention of the scientific community, hopefully, that pancreatic cancer will actually be detected earlier, once it becomes regionally metastatic (when it has spread). Has been ) is a very difficult cancer to treat nearby organs or lymph nodes ), '' he said.