|
On this page: In 2004, cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon/rectum accounted for more than half of all cancer deaths in the United States . Lung cancer alone claimed more than one-fourth of the lives lost to cancer. It was projected that in 2007 there would be 559,650 cancer deaths overall, including 160,390 deaths from lung cancer; 52,180 from cancers of the colon/rectum; 40,460 from female breast cancer; 33,370 deaths from cancer of the pancreas (replacing prostate cancer as the fourth leading cause) and 27,050 from prostate cancer. Cancer mortality usually is measured as the annual number of deaths from cancer for every 100,000 people, adjusted to a standard population. The number of cancer deaths per 100,000 people per year, age-adjusted to a U.S. 2000 standard population. All sites combined: Death rates increased through 1990, then stabilized until 1993 and fell from 1993 through 2004 In 2004, the death rate for all cancers was 185.7 cancer deaths per 100,000 people per year. Reduce the overall cancer death rate to 158.6 cancer deaths per 100,000 people per year by 2010. Groups at High Risk for Cancer Deaths Blacks have the highest overall rates for cancer deaths, followed by Whites. Although overall death rates are on the decline, deaths from some cancers, such as esophageal, liver, and thyroid cancers, are increasing. An ongoing challenge for the United States is to find new and better ways to reduce and eliminate disparities in cancer death rates among different populations of Americans. Additional Information on Mortality
|