Cancer Statistics
National Cancer Institute Report to the Nation 2008
National trends in cancer incidence and mortality are good news for America.
For the first time ever, total cancer diagnoses and deaths are decreasing in both U.S. men and women, according to the latest annual report by the nation's leading cancer organizations. The overall cancer diagnoses, or incidence, rate decreased 0.8% per year from 1999 through 2005, largely due to declines in prostate, lung and colorectal cancer in men and breast and colorectal cancer in women. The cancer rate for men dropped 1.8% per year from 2001-2005 while the rate for women fell 0.6% per year from 1998-2005. In addition, the overall cancer death rate decreased from 1996-2005 for both men and women and nearly all racial and ethnic groups. The report, in the Dec. 2 Journal of the National Cancer Institute, calls the trends "highly encouraging," adding that sustaining them will require continued improvements in prevention, early detection and treatment.