1097-0142/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=a7299bc18f075294c232ade468773cd0672bd470 "Cancer")
Fax: (404) 327-6450
1097-0142/asset/olbannerleft.gif?v=1&s=ca681f5719430b26e1bc15e9ea4c9fc0a7110104)
1097-0142/asset/olbannerright.gif?v=1&s=8142566facf7e76aef9be6c51162a2e920b3b9f9)
Commentary
You have full text access to this OnlineOpen article
Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975–2001, with a special feature regarding survival†
Article first published online: 3 JUN 2004
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.20288
Published 2004 by the American Cancer Society
Additional Information
How to Cite
Jemal, A., Clegg, L. X., Ward, E., Ries, L. A. G., Wu, X., Jamison, P. M., Wingo, P. A., Howe, H. L., Anderson, R. N. and Edwards, B. K. (2004), Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975–2001, with a special feature regarding survival. Cancer, 101: 3–27. doi: 10.1002/cncr.20288
- †
This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
- ‡
Fax: (404) 327-6450
Publication History
- Issue published online: 18 JUN 2004
- Article first published online: 3 JUN 2004
- Manuscript Accepted: 23 MAR 2004
- Manuscript Received: 22 MAR 2004
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- cancer;
- incidence;
- mortality;
- survival;
- Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER);
- National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR);
- North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR);
- vital statistics;
- U.S.
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) collaborate annually to provide updated information regarding cancer occurrence and trends in the U.S. This year's report features a special section on cancer survival.
METHODS
Information concerning cancer cases was obtained from the NCI, CDC, and NAACCR and information concerning recorded cancer deaths was obtained from the CDC. The authors evaluated trends in age-adjusted cancer incidence and death rates by regression models and described and compared survival rates over time and across racial/ethnic populations.
RESULTS
Incidence rates for all cancers combined decreased from 1991 through 2001, but stabilized from 1995 through 2001 when adjusted for delay in reporting. The incidence rates for female lung cancer decreased (although not statistically significant for delay adjusted) and mortality leveled off for the first time after increasing for many decades. Colorectal cancer incidence rates also decreased. Death rates decreased for all cancers combined (1.1% per year since 1993) and for many of the top 15 cancers occurring in men and women. The 5-year relative survival rates improved for all cancers combined and for most, but not all, cancers over 2 diagnostic periods (1975–1979 and 1995–2000). However, cancer-specific survival rates were lower and the risk of dying from cancer, once diagnosed, was higher in most minority populations compared with the white population. The relative risk of death from all cancers combined in each racial and ethnic population compared with non-Hispanic white men and women ranged from 1.16 in Hispanic white men to 1.69 in American Indian/Alaska Native men, with the exception of Asian/Pacific Islander women, whose risk of 1.01 was similar to that of non-Hispanic white women.
CONCLUSIONS
The continued measurable declines for overall cancer death rates and for many of the top 15 cancers, along with improved survival rates, reflect progress in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of cancer. However, racial and ethnic disparities in survival and the risk of death from cancer, and geographic variation in stage distributions suggest that not all segments of the U.S. population have benefited equally from such advances. Cancer 2004. Published 2004 by the American Cancer Society.