2018 United States Cancer Statistics: Death Rates Are Falling – Why?

The annual number of new cancer cases and cancer-related death rates in the United States continue to decline noticeably.

New United States cancer statistics are published every January, and for the past 2 years we have shared these statistics and our reflections on them with you. You may immediately wonder why we share United States statistics rather than data from our own country . The reason is that, as a country, we are still establishing the systems for recording health data and regularly sharing them with the public. We hope that, in the coming period, the results of the Cancer Registration Program carefully conducted by the Cancer Department will be shared publicly, allowing us to interpret Turkish Cancer Statistics for you.

Although declining cancer incidence in the United States applies to many types of cancer, liver cancer rates are increasing. In this article, you can find information about trends in cancer rates over time and why they have begun declining over the past 20 years.

Note: Mortality, the death rate

Compared with cancer deaths in 1991, the overall death rate across all cancer types in 2015 had declined by %26. This means approximately 2.4 million fewer cancer deaths in the United States alone. These rates have improved particularly through reduced smoking, early diagnosis and modern treatment methods. From 1990 to 2015, the greatest reduction in deaths among men was due to lung cancer : a decrease of %45. Nevertheless, tobacco and tobacco product use still accounts for approximately %30 of cancer-related deaths today.

Chart: The top cancer types expected to be most common and cause the most deaths in men and women separately in the United States in 2018: the leading 10 types

Details of the Cancer Statistics

• The 2018 cancer statistics were compiled from data extending through 2014 and 2015.
• In the United States in 2018, an estimated 1.735.350 new cancer diagnoses are predicted, or more than 4700 per day.
• Prostate, lung and colorectal (colon and rectal) cancers are projected to account for %42 of all cancers in men; breast, lung and colorectal cancers are expected to account for %50 of all cancers in women. It is estimated that %30 of cancers in women will be breast cancer .
• In addition, in 2018, it is predicted that 609.640 people in the United States will die from cancer. This represents 1.700 people per day. According to the statistics, in both women and men, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths.
• Researchers found that cancer rates in men declined over the past 10 years by %2. This points to substantial reductions in the risks of lung, colorectal and prostate cancers.
• It was emphasized that lung cancer rates in men were falling twice as fast, with the most important influence being quitting smoking .
• From 2005 to 2014, colorectal cancer showed a similar overall decline of approximately % 2 - 3 in both women and men. This is seen as a reflection of the wider use in older adults of colonoscopy, a cancer screening method used in the United States for early detection of colon cancer.
• Meanwhile, increases in malignant melanoma skin cancer, thyroid, uterine and breast cancers in women are offset by declining lung and colorectal cancer incidence, leaving the number of cancer diagnoses without a very significant change.

Liver Cancer Is Increasing

Liver cancer showed a surprisingly diverse pattern by age and sex during 2010-2014.

Overall, liver cancer continues to increase rapidly in women, while men do not show an increase at this pace. The increase is similar in both sexes below age 40. By contrast, rates in women and men aged 40-59 were observed to remain stable or decline. The largest increase during 2010-2014 occurred in individuals aged 60-69: an annual increase of %8. In people aged 70 and over, an increase of %3 was reported.

Although not entirely clear, 2 factors are thought to increase liver cancer rates: hepatitis C infection (HCV), and increases in alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (risingobesity rates).

The incidence of the skin cancer malignant melanomadeclined during 2005-2014, particularly among younger individuals.

Research in recent years suggests that thyroid cancer rates are stable.

Chart: Preventing the rise in cancer rates is estimated to have saved approximately 2.4 million lives in the United States alone

Survival Rates and Life Expectancy

Compared with cancer-related death rates in 1991, the rate in 2015 showed a decline of up to %26. However, the reduction in death rates is greater among men (%32) than among women (%23).

Over the past ten years, changes in cancer-related death rates were most evident in these four major cancer types:

• From 1989 to 2015, breast cancer rates in women declined by % 39,
• from 1993 to 2015, prostate cancer by % 52,
• from 1970 to 2015, colorectal cancers declined by % 52, 
• and from 2002 to 2015, lung cancer declined by % 19.

For all cancers, the 5-year survival rate, described as indicating complete recovery from the disease, has reached approximately % 70.

• The highest 5-year survival rate was achieved by prostate cancer at % 99, followed by malignant melanoma at % 92 and breast cancer in women at % 90.
• The disease with the lowest overall survival rate is pancreatic cancer.
• Among children aged 14 and younger, cancer is the 2nd most common cause of death. Researchers estimated that in 2018, in the United States, 10.590 children would be diagnosed with cancer and 1.180 children could die from it.
• Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children, followed by brain tumors and nervous system tumors.
• During adolescence, brain tumors are most common, followed by other nervous system tumors and then lymphoma.

In conclusion, cancer continues to be one of the most important health problems of our era. Nevertheless, even in the past 25 years, cancer-related death rates have declined by %26, marking very important progress. Modern medicine has unquestionably made the greatest contribution to this development.

Progress in cancer medicine does not satisfy many people and seems slow, but this is not actually the case. For this highly complex group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation and the ability to spread to other organs, the advances made in just the past 100 years are very encouraging for cancer, whose historyis even older than human history. Let us reiterate that the “non-miraculous” recipe for a healthy life is an active lifestyle free from smoking and alcohol, an ideal weight and a strong social circle.