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Cancer
- Statistical Information
Cancer
is the second leading killer of American women (heart disease is
the number one killer).
Since 1987, lung cancer has been
the top cancer killer among American women, with
an estimated 65,700 deaths in 2002. Over the past 10 years, the
mortality rate from lung cancer has declined in men but has continued
to rise in women. These alarming trends are under recognized by
women and are due almost exclusively to increased rates of cigarette
smoking in women.
It is estimated there will be 79,200
new cases of lung cancer in women in 2002, accounting
for 12% of cancer diagnoses. Since 1987, more women have died each
year of lung cancer than breast cancer, which, for over 40 years,
was the major cause of cancer death in women.
Source:
American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts and Figures 2002: http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CFF2002.pdf
Breast cancer is the second leading
cancer killer (after
lung cancer) among women. However, although lung cancer kills more
women each year than breast cancer does, there are more new cases
of breast cancer every year than lung cancer. The estimated lifetime
probability of getting breast cancer for women is now 1 in 8, compared
to the lifetime risk of getting lung cancer of 1 in 17.
The incidence of breast cancer has
increased steadily over the last 50 years, rising
25.3 percent between 1973 and 1992. An estimated 203,500 new invasive
cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the
United States during 2002. It is estimated that there will be 39,600
deaths of women attributed to breast cancer in 2002.
Women
who develop breast cancer when they are younger than age 45 have
a 5-year relative survival rate of 79%. This rate increases to 84%
for women aged 45-64 and 87% for women ages 65 and over. The 5-year
survival rate for Hispanic women is lower than the rate for Caucasian
women in the same age categories.
The
incidence of breast cancer rose steadily from 1940 to 1990, and
then stabilized at approximately 110 cases per 100,000 women. With
the increased use of mammography screening, breast cancers have
increasingly been detected earlier in their development, when they
are more treatable. This earlier detection, coupled with improved
treatment has led to a decline in breast cancer death rates. Between
1990 and 1994, breast cancer mortality decreased by 5.6 percent.
This decline was more pronounced among white women (-6.1%) than
among African American women (-1%).
Source:
American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts and Figures 2002: http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CFF2002.pdf
The incidence and death rates from
breast cancer increase with age. About
80 percent of breast cancers occur in women age 50 or older. Seventy-seven
percent of new cases and 84% of breast cancer deaths reported between
1994-1998 occurred in women ages 50 and older. For all races combined,
for the period 1994-1998, women ages 20-24 had an age-specific incidence
rate of only 1.5 cases per 100,000 population; women ages 75-79
had the highest incidence rate, 489.7 cases per 100,000.
Source:
Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2001-2002, American Cancer Society,
http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/BrCaFF2001.pdf)
After age 40, white women are more
likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than black women.
With
the exception of black women between the ages of 20-24, black women
under age 40 have a slightly higher incidence than white women.
Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than are white
women. Incidence and death rates from breast cancer are generally
lower among women of other racial and ethnic groups than in white
and black women.
Source:
Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2001-2002, American Cancer Society,
http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/BrCaFF2001.pdf
The
percentage of women age 40 and over who report that they have not
had a mammogram in the past two years has been declining over the
past decade. Data from the Centers for Disease Control's nationwide
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2000 show that about
29 percent of women aged 40-49, about 19 percent of women aged 50-64,
and about 23 percent of women aged 65 and over said they had not
had a mammogram within the previous two years.
Source:
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/page.asp?cat=WH&yr=2000&state=US#WH
Colorectal cancer is the third leading
cause of cancer deaths in American women. It
is estimated there will be 57,000 new cases of colon cancer and
18,400 new cases of rectal cancer in women in 2002. Although many
cases are preventable with regular screening, regular exercise,
and a diet low in fat and high in fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain
foods, colorectal cancer is expected to claim the lives of 28,800
women in 2002.
Cervical cancer: The
estimated lifetime probability of getting cervical cancer for women
is now 1 in 117. All women 18 and over should have an annual Pap
test and pelvic exam. With the advent of the Pap smear, the early
detection and prevention of cervical cancer has improved dramatically.
Both the incidence and death rates from this disease have declined
by 40 percent since the early 1970s. It is estimated that 13,000
cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the year
2002.
Endometrial (uterine lining) cancer:
It is
estimated that in 2002, 39,300 cases of cancer of the uterine corpus
(body of the uterus), usually of the endometrium or lining of the
uterus, will be diagnosed and an estimated 6,600 deaths will occur.
Incidence rates for endometrial cancer are higher among white women
(22.9 per 100,000) than among black women (15.7 per 100,000).
Ovarian cancer: This
is the most deadly of all the cancers of the female reproductive
system. Symptoms often appear only in the very advanced stages of
the disease. Risk for ovarian cancer rises with age and peaks in
the late 70s. The number of new cases of ovarian cancer (incidence)
has been gradually dropping each year for the past 10 years. It
is estimated that in 2002 there will be 23,300 new cases in the
United States and an estimated 13,900 deaths.
Skin Cancer: There
are more than a million cases a year of highly curable basal cell
or squamous cell cancers in men and women. They are more common
among individuals with lightly pigmented skin. Although overall,
men are more likely than women to develop skin cancer, women under
the age of 40 comprise the fastest growing group of skin cancer
patients. The prevalence of melanoma-the most serious form of skin
cancer-has doubled since 1973 from 6 cases per 100,000 people to
12 per 100,000. The most serious form of skin cancer is melanoma,
and it is estimated that in 2002 that about 23,500 women will be
diagnosed with this form of skin cancer.
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