The American Cancer Society says prevention efforts are working and medicine is getting better at treating cancer. The latest report from the organization shows that cancer rates continue to decline in the United States. Research shows that almost 1 million cancer deaths have been prevented in the last 20 years.
The cancer study compared statistics on deaths between 1990 and 2007 which is the latest year for which data is available. Over that period of time, the cancer death rate declined by just over 20% for men and by almost 15% for women. The discrepancy between the decline for men and women has directly to do with smoking. The Cancer Society says research shows that women have been slower to give up cigarettes than men and that is why their cancer death rate is not falling as fast.
One area where great progress has been made in cancer deaths among women is breast cancer. The campaigns which push early detection are clearly having positive results. Breast cancer is still the number two cause of cancer deaths among women but the number of deaths has been steadily declining by about 3% per year since 1990. The five year survival rate for women diagnosed with breast cancer is now 90%. You can find more about preventing cancer at medikalfizikder.org.
The new cancer study shows that prevention efforts are the key to reducing cancer death rates even more. Public service campaigns to encourage people to quite smoking must continue along with campaigns encouraging people to be screened for colon and breast cancer. We can put up our very own security systems against this dreadful diseas. The tests are simple and an early diagnosis will improve the patient’s odds of surviving.
