According to the American Cancer Society, the cancer death rate in the United States has fallen by 33% since 1991. This decline is attributed to several factors, including advances in early detection and treatment, as well as reductions in smoking rates.
“New revelations for prevention, for early detection and for treatment have resulted in true, meaningful gains in many of the 200 diseases that we call cancer,” Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society said.
Among women in their early 20s, there was a 65% drop in cervical cancer rates from 2012 through 2019, “which totally follows the time when HPV vaccines were put into use,” said Dr. William Dahut, the society’s chief scientific officer.
“There are other cancers that are HPV-related – whether that’s head and neck cancers or anal cancers – so there’s optimism this will have importance beyond this,” he said.
Some specific examples of improvements in cancer treatment include:
- The development of new chemotherapy and targeted therapy drugs.
- Improvements in surgery, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy.
- Increased use of screening tests, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, which can detect cancer at an early stage.
- Greater public awareness of the importance of cancer prevention and early detection
- The decline in smoking rates has also played a significant role in the decrease of cancer death rate. Smoking is a major risk factor for several types of cancer, like lung cancer, and the decline in smoking rates has led to a corresponding decline in the incidence of these cancers.
It's worth noting that the decline in cancer death rate is not the same for all populations and cancer types. Some populations and cancer types have seen greater reductions in deaths than others. The decline in cancer death rates has been particularly large for lung cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer.
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