U.S. Cancer Deaths Up in 2005
5,424 More People Died of Cancer in 2005 Than in 2004, but Cancer Death Rate Far Lower Than in 1990
Feb. 20, 2008 -- New cancer statistics show a rise in cancer deaths in 2005 and an overall drop in the cancer death rate since 1990.
In 2005, a total of 559,312 people in the U.S died of cancer. That's 5,424 more people than in 2004, according to the American Cancer Society.
But the American Cancer Society also notes that the big picture shows that the cancer death rate declined by about 18% for men and 10% for women between the early 1990s and 2004.
"The increase in the number of cancer deaths in 2005 after two years of historic declines should not obscure the fact that cancer death rates continue to drop, reflecting the enormous progress that has been made against cancer during the past 15 years," John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, says in a news release.
Seffrin notes that although the decline in the cancer death rate slowed in 2005, "the fact remains that cancer mortality rates continue to drop, and they're doing so at a rate fast enough that over half a million deaths from cancer were averted between 1990/1991 and 2004."
The new cancer statistics appear in the American Cancer Society's report "Cancer Facts & Figures 2008" and in the March/April edition of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Men's Leading Cancers
For men, the top three causes of cancer death are:
- Lung cancer: 90,810 deaths predicted for 2008
- Prostate cancer: 28,660 deaths predicted for 2008
- Colorectal cancer: 24,260 deaths expected in 2008
Not counting nonmelanomaskin cancer, men's most common new cancer cases are:
- Prostate cancer: 186,320 new cases predicted for 2008
- Lung cancer: 114,690 new cases predicted for 2008
- Colorectal cancer: 77,250 new cases predicted for 2008
Women's Leading Cancers
The top causes of cancer death for women are:
- Lung cancer: 71,030 deaths expected in 2008
- Breast cancer: 40,480 deaths predicted in 2008
- Colorectal cancer: 25,700 deaths predicted in 2008
Not counting nonmelanoma skin cancer, women's most common new cancer cases are:
- Breast cancer: 182,460 new cases predicted in 2008
- Lung cancer: 100,330 new cases predicted in 2008
- Colorectal cancer: 71,560 new cases predicted in 2008