Parsing the Cancer Statistics

There is heartening news in the latest annual report on cancer trends. The report shows that a long-term decline in death rates from cancer has continued in both sexes. And for the first time, there is evidence that the rate of newly diagnosed cancers has declined in recent years. It is news worth celebrating. But it is also important to recognize some worrying countertrends.

The new report — from the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute and an association of cancer registries — attributes the gains primarily to a drop in lung, colorectal and prostate cancer in men and in breast and colorectal cancer in women.

There seems little doubt that the decline in cancer death rates since the early 1990s is real. It is attributed to healthier lifestyles, improved screening and better treatments. But the decline in newly diagnosed cancer cases is more difficult to interpret.

If the decline means that fewer people are contracting cancer, then that is great news. But if it simply means that fewer cases are being diagnosed because fewer people are getting screened for breast and prostate cancer or can afford to visit a doctor, then that is bad news. Any failure to diagnose today will only heighten the damage when the cancers become too big to ignore.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/opinion/03wed3.html?th&emc=th

i have already been cured of a colorectal cancer that i did not get. i had a colonoscopy, and had an adenomatous polyp removed. 3 year recheck was fine. 5 year is coming up next year. i had 2 aunts who died of this. something else will have to kill me.