According to the American Cancer Society’s annual report, the U.S. cancer death rate has decreased; however, obesity-related cancer rate has increased. Obesity-related cancers include pancreatic and kidney cancers, which has spurred developing “warning” campaigns to address the issue.
Between 2004 and 2008, the American Cancer Society reported that for each year, the cancer death rates decreased among men by about 1.8 percent each year and for women, the death rate decreased about 1.6 percent each year.
More dramatically, from 1990 to 2008, the cancer death rate has decreased 23 percent among men and 15 percent among women. Thus an estimated one million American lives, or more, have been saved.
Among racial groups, all groups observed a decline in cancer deaths, except for American Indians/Alaska Natives. American Indians/Alaska Natives cancer death rate remained steady over time.
However, cancer disparities among racial groups still remains. For example, African-American men have a 15 percent higher cancer rate than Caucasian men, and a 33 percent higher death rate than Caucasian men. For African-American women, they enjoy a lower diagnosed cancer rate, compared to Caucasian women; however, African-American women have a 16 percent higher death rate.
The cause of the decline in cancer deaths is most likely due to the reduced number of lung cancer and breast cancer among men and women, respectively. The decline in lung cancer among men composes 40 percent of the total drop among men, and the decline of breast cancer among women composes 34 percent of the total drop among women.
Lung and breast cancer rates have declined in the U.S. because people have become more aware of the risk factors, such as not smoking and preventative care.
Most recently, doctors and researcher have identified obesity to be a major risk factor for certain types of cancer, including esophageal, pancreatic, liver, breast, and kidney cancer.
To address the recent obesity issue, public health officials are looking into ways to inform people of the risks of obesity and educate people on how to improve their diets. Some states, like Georgia, have already started “warning” campaigns against obesity and it has received heat from the public. However, over time, the effects of the campaign may improve health and lower the obesity-related cancer rate in Georgia.
Cancer is a serious issue in the U.S. Cancer is the second largest killer of Americans and its risk factors should not be taken lightly. Among men, about 50 percent will develop cancer during their lifetime and women have a one in three chances of developing cancer.
According to the report, more than 577,000 Americans will die from cancer and 1,638,000 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer, in 2012.
