Analysis: Good news in the war on cancer
By Peggy Peck
United Press International
Published 6/3/2004 4:40 PM
The National Cancer Institute's annual report to the nation, released Thursday, confirms what cancer experts have been suggesting for the past decade -- the war on the disease is now a winning proposition, with fewer cases occurring and fewer people dying.
The report, which covers the years 1975 to 2001, reveals from 1999 to 2001 there was a decrease of 0.5 percent per year in the number of cancers, while the death rate from all cancers dropped by 1.1 percent per year from 1991 to 2001.
Perhaps the most welcome news is lung cancer death rates in women leveled off between 1995 and 2001, after steadily increasing for years. Also, in an indication that women may indeed have "come a long way, baby," lung cancer in women also is on the decline.
Though the stats in this year's cancer report are grabbing headlines, the reality is this year's numbers simply are continuing a trend started in the early 1990s.
Dr. Robert Young, president of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and a past president of the American Cancer Society, told United Press International the success story in cancer is like "a giant battleship changing course. It isn't that easy to change course, but once you do change course it is pretty easy to keep going in the same direction."
Article: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040603-035354-2997r