Cancer survival rates improving due to early detection, report says

Cancer survival rates improving due to early detection

The number of American cancer survivors have grown by hundreds of thousands each year, so much so that at least one in 20 adults in the country today is a cancer survivor.

Some 40 years ago, there were about 3 million cancer survivors in the United States. That number rose to 10 million in 2001 and grew further to 11.4 million in 2006. By 2007, some 11.7 million Americans can be considered cancer survivors according to CDC data based on nine cancer patient registries.

The better cancer survival rates are also linked to healthier lifestyle choices like smoking less and eating a balanced diet with less fat.

"There are some cancers that we can't prevent and they are terrible tragedies," said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden. "But there are many that are preventable, or if caught early can result in much longer life."

The increase in the number of cancer survivors is also due to the aging population. Cancer is most prevalent among seniors and 60 percent of the survivors are aged 65 and above.

Breast cancer patients tend to have the best cancer survival rates at 22 percent. Prostate cancer has the next highest rate at 19 percent.

Roughly 65 percent of the survivors had survived for a minimum of five years. Up to 40 percent meanwhile were still alive a decade or more after diagnosis.

Those diagnosed with cancer, underwent treatment, still receiving treatment and those dying from the disease were all included to determine the cancer survival rates.

Posted by George Daniels on Saturday March 12 2011, 4:10 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0