Smoking Kills, 2009 Cancer Facts and Statistics

The 2009 the annual statistical analysis by the American Cancer Society indicates cancer deaths are declining.  The study also show a more rapid decline is possible if people stop smoking.  (Statistics in Cancer Facts and Figures)

The top killer among men is lung cancer and women while digestive system cancer is the most common group of cancers, and that group includes colon, rectal, throat and intestinal cancers.

New Cancer Statistics:

• Between 2001 and 2005, black people still had the highest percentage of cancer incidence and cancer deaths among other statistically significant ethnic groups. The same problem persists: blacks and poor people often don’t see a doctor until the cancer is too advanced.
• Black men have an 18 percent higher incidence rate and 36 percent higher cancer death rate compared to white men.
• Black women are less likely than white women to get cancer, but when they do, they’re more likely to die from it.
• Poverty remains the number one condition behind cancer deaths, regardless of ethnicity. The lower your income, the more likely it is that if you get cancer, you’ll die from it.
• Cancer death rates dropped 19.2 percent among men during 1990-2005 and 11.4 percent among women during, between 1990 and 2005.
• Early detection, improved prevention and improved treatments account for the drop.
• The drop adds up to 650,000 lives saved in 15 years.
• Cancer Society researchers predict 1,479,350 new cancer cases and 562,340 cancer deaths in 2009.
• For all cancers diagnosed from 1996 to 2004, the 5-year relative survival rate is 66 percent, up from 50 percent in 1975 to 1977. That increase reflects improvements in both early detection and treatment.
• Prostate, lung and colorectal cancers account for about half of all cancer diagnoses among men; lung, colorectal and breast cancers account for about half of new cases. Combined, they account for almost half of the cancer deaths among men and women.

For the science behind the statistics, get CA: Cancer Statistics for Clinicians .
See a PowerPoint presentation or hear an audio report narrated by Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the Cancer Society.

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