Senator Boxer: Progress Continues in the Fight Against Cancer

October 19, 2007

Fewer Americans are dying from cancer.  This good news is confirmed by both the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The rate of deaths from cancer is declining and, in fact, the amount of decline nearly doubled in recent years.  And this trend is expected to continue.

The number of deaths from cancer is an important measure of progress against the disease.  The decline in cancer deaths was first noted in the 1990s, when researchers reported decreases in the cancer death rate of about 1 percent per year. Recently, the drop in the rate has reached more than 2.1 percent per year.  The greatest gains were registered against colorectal cancer in men and women, prostate cancer in men, breast cancer in women and lung cancer in men.

The largest decline in cancer rates was for colorectal cancer.  In fact, death rates recently fell by about 5 percent.  One reason for this decline comes because new diagnostic procedures have made it possible to detect and treat precancerous polyps before they develop into cancer.  Another reason is that treatments have been developed, roughly doubling survival times for patients with even the most advanced cancers. 

Overall, cancer mortality is improving faster among men than women.  Smoking is at the root of this difference, with smoking rates falling more quickly for men than for women.  With this trend, lung cancer rates are falling more quickly for men than for women.  The largest drop in new cancer diagnoses for women was for breast cancer, mainly because of a decline in hormone replacement drugs.

Over my years in Congress, I have long supported health research, including basic research to better understand, prevent, treat and cure cancer.  I am currently a cosponsor of S.1415, the Cancer Screening, Treatment, and Survivorship Act of 2007.  This bill would continue to make the fight against cancer a top priority by providing cancer screening and referrals; developing and disseminating public information and education programs for the detection and control of cancers; and improving the education, training and skills of health professionals in detecting cancers.  I want to make sure that we continue driving the death rate from cancer downward.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

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