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Cancer Rate Dips as PSA Tests Drop
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JAMA
News From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
February 9, 2016
Thirty states have met the Healthy People 2020 goal to reduce colorectal cancer cases to 39.9 per 100 000 population or fewer, and 27 states reached the cervical cancer target of no more than 7.2 cases per 100 000 females, according to a CDC analysis of 2012 cancer registry data.
The investigators reported that the overall incidence of cancer was lower in 2012 than in 2011 due to fewer prostate cancer diagnoses as men forgo prostate-specific antigen tests in accordance with US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations.
In 2012, about 1.5 million new invasive cancers were diagnosed in the United States (excluding Nevada), for an annual incidence rate of 483 per 100 000 population for males and 412 per 100 000 for females (Henley SJ et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015;64[49]:1353-1358). Cancer rates varied among states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, but overall incidence was lowest in Puerto Rico. Four cancers—female breast, prostate, lung and bronchus, and colon and rectum—comprised roughly half of all cancers diagnosed in 2012.
Two-thirds of people diagnosed with cancer between 2001 and 2011 survived 5 years or longer, with survival rates reaching 81% for those diagnosed before age 45 years. The highest 5-year survival rates were for prostate cancer (97%) and female breast cancer (88%); the lowest was for lung cancer (18%). Survival rates were also lower for black patients (60%) than for white individuals (66%).
Cancer surveillance data can help public health officials meet the nation’s Healthy People 2020 cancer goals by guiding them to direct cancer care and services to areas in greatest need. In addition, health care professionals play a key role in reducing cancer by advising their patients on prevention, recommending cancer screening tests, and following up on abnormal screening results.