New Cancer Statistics Show Promise Overall
But African Americans Still Have Troubling Cancer Profile
By the National Cancer Institute
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Every year, the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
collaborates with other organizations to release the Annual Report to the Nation
on the Status of Cancer. When this report is released, the question is always
the same: Are we are making any progress against cancer? This year, the report
confirms that we are making advances in the fight against many types of this
disease.
The Annual Report to the Nation reveals that, over
the past decade or so, there has been a decrease of nearly 1 percent each year
in the incidence of new cases of cancer and an even greater decline, of about
1.6 percent each year, in the rate of cancer deaths. It may not seem like much,
but a drop of just 1 percent each year in the rates of new cancer cases and
deaths is significant. That could be tens of thousands of people spared the pain
of this disease in a given year. According to the NCI Director, Dr. John
Niederhuber, "The continued decline in overall cancer rates documents the
success we have had with our aggressive efforts to reduce risk in large
populations, to provide for early detection, and to develop new therapies."
 However, in spite of this progress, disparities in
cancer incidence and death still exist. The report shows that African American
men still have the highest incidence of all cancers combined and that African
American men and women have the highest overall rates of cancer deaths - and
that is not good news. For many African Americans, cancer hits home too often.
It has likely touched a member of your family, a co-worker, or a neighbor.
When it comes to cancer health disparities, research
has uncovered some of the underlying factors that predispose some people to
poorer outcomes. The most obvious factors are associated with a lack of health
care coverage and low socioeconomic status. In particular, people of lower
socioeconomic status often have lower access to screening and treatment and may
be more likely to smoke, have a poor diet, drink too much alcohol, and be
physically inactive. It is clear that more work needs to be done to get the very
latest advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment - as well as information
about how to improve personal health behaviors - to all Americans.
But according to this year's report, there are also
reasons to be encouraged. For example, rates of death from colorectal cancer, a
leading killer of African Americans, declined for African Americans, as they did
for every racial/ethnic group. Prostate cancer incidence declined in both
African American and Hispanic men, and breast cancer incidence dropped in
African American women, as in women of other racial/ethnic groups.
So what does this mean for African Americans? NCI
wants you to know that there are places to turn to for help and reliable
information when you want to know more about cancer or when you are confronted
with the disease. As the primary federal leader in cancer research, NCI
continues to maintain a focus on cancer health disparities as a part of its
portfolio of education, awareness, and research activities.
You can never know too much about cancer. There are
numerous options to access the many publications and other educational materials
offered by NCI. If you prefer to search the Internet, visit the NCI Web site,
www.cancer.gov Our site links you to a wide variety of cancer education and
awareness materials, from publications to updates about research. You can also
order free publications at the Web site. Or, if you prefer, you can use the
telephone. Dial 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) to talk with an information
specialist from NCI's Cancer Information Service.
For African Americans, knowledge is one of the
primary keys to maintaining good health. Take advantage of every resource
available to you to get smart about cancer.
NCI leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH
effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the lives of
cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer
biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of
new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI Web
site at http://www.cancer.gov or call NCI's Cancer Information Service at
1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
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