简体中文
The American Cancer Society's annual report on cancer rates and trends showed that the cancer death rate in the United States declined by 29 percent from 1991 to 2017, with a 2.2 percent drop from 2016 to 2017, the largest single-year drop in cancer mortality ever reported.
The Cancer Statistics, 2020, published on Tuesday in the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, showed that the steady decline in overall cancer mortality is driven by long-term drops in death rates for lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers.
The mortality reductions for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death, accelerated in recent years. Lung cancer death rates have dropped by 51 percent since 1990 in men and by 26 percent since 2002 in women. However, progress slowed for colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers.
The most rapid declines in mortality occurred for melanoma of the skin, thanks to breakthrough treatments approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011, according to the report.
The 26-year drop has translated to approximately 2.9 million fewer cancer deaths than would have occurred had mortality rates remained at their peak.
Declines in cancer mortality strike a contrast with a stable trend for all other causes of death combined, reflecting a slowing decline for heart disease, stabilizing rates for cerebrovascular disease, and an increasing trend for accidents and Alzheimer disease.
The report also highlighted a slight rise in breast cancer incidence rates due in part to continued declines in the fertility rate and increased obesity.
In 2020, 1,806,590 new cancer cases and 606,520 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the country, according to the report.
(CGTN)
