Cancer Death Rate Decline
Last week, the American Cancer Society released its annual Cancer Facts and Figures report, detailing the progress our society and modern medicine is making against this devastating disease. The news from ACS was undeniably good.
• Cancer death rates have dropped 19.25% among men and 11.4% among women over the past 15 years.
• Cancer incidence rates are also declining – 1.8% among men from 2001-2005 and 0.6% among women from 1998-2005.
• And, for all cancers diagnosed between 1996 and 2004, the five-year survival rate is 66 percent. That’s up from 50% in the mid-1970s.
There are a number of reasons for this ongoing success story. Fewer people are smoking. More of us are living healthier lifestyles. There’s a greater understanding of the need to get preventive checkups. But, let’s not lose sight of the role healthcare innovation plays through improved treatments and improvements in the ability to diagnose the signs of cancer before they progress too far.
The American Cancer Society’s report also tells us that there will be nearly 1.5 million new cancer cases emerging in 2009 and over 550,000 deaths from the disease this year. That’s more than enough incentive to make certain that medical innovation is the centerpiece of health reform.
