Jan 12, 2022,03:32pm EST
Marisa Dellatto Forbes Staff Business
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news, arts and entertainment.
The American Cancer Society
reported a significant decrease in the cancer death rate from 1991 to 2019, the
most recent year data was available, and found that almost half of cancer
deaths can potentially be prevented, according to an annual report from
the organization.
KEY
FACTS
According to the Cancer Facts
& Figures 2022 report,
the death rate from cancer dropped 32% in 28 years, and the drop in fatality is
largely attributed to fewer people smoking during this time frame, as well as
the rise of combination treatments, chemotherapy and prevention and early
detection measures.
The organization found that 42%
of cancers can potentially be prevented, including 19% that are caused from
smoking and 18% that are caused by drinking alcohol, poor nutrition, physical
inactivity and excess body weight.
Early detection in lung cancer
increased dramatically from 2004 to 2018, leading to an uptick in 3-year
survival rates for people with the disease from 21 in 100 people to 31 in 100
people.
The ACS predicted there will be
1,918,030 new cancer cases diagnosed and 609,360 deaths from cancer in 2022, up
slightly from the numbers predicted for 2021.
There is a two to four year lag
in reporting actual case and death numbers, and it is not yet clear if the ACS
projections for 2021 were on target.
TANGENT
After heart disease, cancer is
the second leading cause of death in the U.S, according to the report. Lung
cancer causes more deaths than any other kind of cancer, and more than the
deaths caused by breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer combined. Over 80% of
lung cancer deaths in 2022 are expected to be caused by smoking cigarettes.
KEY
BACKGROUND
From 2017 to 2018, the death
rate from cancer dropped 2.4%, the most ever in a single year, which was
reported in the 2021 document from the ACS. In 2020, diagnoses of cancer and
treatment for cancer were adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, according
to an accompanying
study to the report, because the ability to find treatment and
prevention services were “greatly reduced.”
FURTHER READING
Risk of Dying
from Cancer Continues to Drop at an Accelerated Pace (Cancer.org)
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