Cancer deaths declining in U.S.

An estimated 7,600 new cancers will be diagnosed in Utahns this year, according to the latest annual projection released by the American Cancer Society Wednesday. Nationally, the new diagnoses are expected to total 1.4 million. The numbers do not include either squamous cell or basal skin cancers or noninvasive cancers, with the exception of bladder cancer.

But the American Cancer Society's annual statistical report shows several thousand fewer deaths nationally from cancer from 2003 to 2004, the last year for which hard numbers are available. That marks the second consecutive year with fewer rather than more deaths, something that had never happened in the report's 70-year history.

Still, an estimated 560,000 Americans will die from cancer in 2007.

The number of cancer deaths nationally decreased across major cancer sites, including prostate, breast and colorectal cancer in both men and women and lung cancer in men.

The numbers are based on data from cancer registries that cover about 86 percent of the nation, the report says.

Utah's overall cancer rates are among the lowest in the nation for men, at 490.2 per 100,000 compared to 562.1 nationally for all sites. Utah women have the lowest overall rate at 346.3 per 100,000 compared to the nation's 415.3.

In only two categories — prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma among males — did Utah fare slightly worse than national averages.

"I think we've made great strides in some cancers in Utah, particularly breast and colon cancer," said Scott Thompson, communication manager for the American Cancer Society's Utah chapter. "Our smoking rate is lower than almost everyplace else, and we'd like to see it get lower. We would like to see more people quit or not start."

Thompson believes the American Cancer Society and other health advocates have helped lower the death rate from cancer by educating the public about when to get screenings and who is most susceptible to different cancers. They've also preached the need to be proactive.

But he said some cancers, such as prostate and colon cancer, both more common in older patients, are challenging because they have no symptoms that allow someone to detect it early without screening. "With colon cancer, once you have symptoms, it's pretty advanced," he said.

He also credits improved treatments and medications available today for the decline in cancer deaths.