HHS HealthBeat (March 17, 2010)

Less cancer

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A review of how the nation is doing against cancer finds signs of improvement. The annual Report to the Nation on Cancer says new cases and death rates have fallen for some forms of cancer.

At the National Cancer Institute, Brenda Edwards says the drops in deaths are striking:

"We’re seeing declines for breast cancer in women, prostate cancer for men, and we’re also seeing declines in colorectal cancer as well as a number of other sites."  (8 seconds)

Edwards also says lung cancer death rates are declining for men but stable for women.

Some of the improvement may be due to earlier detection, such as you’d get from screening tests, and to better medical treatment.

Experts say people can reduce their odds of getting some cancers by, for instance, not smoking, as well as eating healthier and doing more physical activity.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November 21, 2011