Lung cancer rates drop for women for first time
MILWAUKEE – Lung cancer rates have dropped slightly for the first time in women, says a new federal report that’s full of good news about trends in cancer cases and deaths.
The number of cancer survivors is at an all-time high – nearly 10 million Americans alive today have beaten the disease.
“We have more survivors than we’ve ever had, and they are living much longer. We need to start thinking about the ramifications,” such as what follow-up they need as they age, said George Wilding, director of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center in Madison.
The annual “report to the nation” was released today by the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the cancer registry association. It was published online in the journal Cancer and will appear in the July 1 print issue.
The lung cancer decline in women is small, but “is remarkable proof that we are making a difference in the No. 1 cancer killer,” says a statement by John Seffrin, the cancer society’s chief executive officer.
For years, women have been catching up to men in rates of smoking-related cancers and deaths. In men, rates of new cases started declining in the early 1980s, followed by declines in lung cancer deaths in the early 1990s.
In women, the rate of new cases started to decline in 1998, the new report says. Starting that year, the rate declined 1.3 percent through 2001, after adjusting for reporting delays. Lung cancer deaths also have leveled off in women.
Other news:
• Cancer death rates dropped 1.1 percent per year from 1993 to 2001, more for men than women.
• Cancer incidence rates (new cases) dropped 0.5 percent per year from 1991 to 2001, more in the first half of that decade and then leveling off in the second.
• Breast cancer incidence rates rose at a slower rate – 0.4 percent per year – from 1987 to 2001, compared with earlier years. Mammograms are one reason for more cases being detected. Death rates have been falling since the early 1990s.
• Prostate cancer rates rose 1.4 percent per year since 1995 – about the same pace as before the PSA blood test became used for screening. When the test first came into use in the late 1980s and early 1990s, increases of 16.4 percent per year were reported. Death rates have declined since the early 1990s.
• Blacks continued to die at higher rates than whites, especially of breast and colon cancers, suggesting disparities in screening and treatment.
Some of the most impressive gains in survivorship involve childhood cancers. Three of every four cases today are survived; decades ago, they were almost always fatal.
A national, electronic record-keeping system is needed to help monitor and guide follow-up care for cancer survivors of all ages, said LaSalle Leffall Jr., a Howard University College of Medicine surgeon who led the three-member President’s Cancer Panel that on Friday will issue a separate report on cancer survivorship.
Another panel member is cycling champion Lance Armstrong, who survived testicular cancer that had spread to other sites.
“Most patients, if they got chemotherapy, don’t know what drug they got,” and may not be aware of late effects that may become relevant as they get older, Leffall said.
Survivors also need specific directions for testing and monitoring for their particular cancer, such as a colonoscopy every year or a mammogram every six months, “not just `come back in six months,”’ he said.
Marge Thorsen, who was treated for breast cancer 12 years ago at Oconomowoc Memorial and Waukesha Memorial hospitals, has been more fortunate than many patients. A former nurse who knows a lot about how she was treated, she still goes to the same doctors for tests and monitoring, and tries to keep from worrying about a recurrence.
“In the back of your mind, every time you get a little ache, you think, `is it the cancer coming back?”’ she said. “It gets better the further out you go, but it’s still there.”