American Cancer Society report details cancer prevention efforts

An annual report from the American Cancer Society highlights that long-term favorable trends have stalled for several factors that have been responsible for declining cancer death rates in the U.S. The report, Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts and Figures 2008 (CPED), points out that drops in smoking appear to have leveled off and that mammography rates have been stable or slightly declining since 2000 after increasing for more than a decade. Although rates of colorectal cancer screening are increasing, these life-saving tests are still not reaching a substantial part of the population. The report also notes the role of access to care, pointing out that individuals without health insurance are much less likely to receive mammography and colorectal cancer screening than those with health insurance and are more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage of cancer, when treatment is more expensive and survival rates are much lower.

“Earlier this year, we reported that death rates from cancer in the United States have dropped by 18.4 percent among men and 10.5 percent among women since mortality rates began to decline in the early 1990s, translating into more than half a million cancer deaths avoided in the United States,” said Otis W. Brawley, MD, national chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. “If we want these gains to continue, we need comprehensive, systematic efforts to reduce tobacco use, to address the epidemic levels of obesity in this country, and to make sure all Americans have access to and receive established cancer screening tests.”

CPED, published annually since 1992, is the most comprehensive annual report on factors that affect cancer risk, including behavior and early detection. It details the challenges and opportunities in preventing cancer and cancer death, and outlines lifestyle changes and medical care changes that have the potential to prevent about half of cancer deaths. Below are highlights from this year’s report.

Tobacco

• About 20.8% of adults and 23% of high school students currently smoke. The prevalence of smoking in high school students leveled off from 2003-2005 after declining from 1997 to 2003.
• Between 1997 and 2004, the percentage of adults who smoke decreased in both men and women, but in the past two years, these rates are essentially unchanged at 23.9% in men and 18.0% in women, as of 2006.
• Currently, 25 states have a state excise tax less than $1.00 per pack of cigarettes. These low-taxing states are mostly concentrated in the southeast and central US and include several tobacco-growing states.
• Although 43 states and the District of Columbia have increased their cigarette taxes since 2000, only 23 states have laws requiring that a portion of their excise taxes be dedicated to health, cancer control, or tobacco control programs.
• In 2008, states allocated a total of $717.2 million for tobacco control programs; however, for every dollar spent on tobacco control, the tobacco industry spends nearly $24.