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Cancer Trends Progress Report – 2011/2012 Update

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In the Report
Introduction
Trends-at-a-Glance
Summary Tables
Prevention
Early Detection
Diagnosis
Treatment
Life After Cancer
End of Life



Prevention

Cancer can be caused by a variety of factors and may develop over a number of years. Some risk factors can be controlled. Choosing the right health behaviors and preventing exposure to certain environmental risk factors can help prevent the development of cancer. For this reason, it is important to follow national trends data to monitor the reduction of these risk factors. This section focuses on national trends data from three major groups of risk factors: Behavioral, Environmental, and Policy/Regulatory.

Behavioral Factors

Smoking, poor diet quality, and physical inactivity are just some of the human behaviors that have been linked to the development of many common cancers. This section describes trends in the following behaviors that can influence the likelihood of getting cancer.

Smoking Initiation
Youth Smoking
Adult Smoking
Quitting Smoking
Clinicians’ Advice to
  Quit Smoking
Medicaid Coverage of Tobacco
  Dependence Treatments

Tobacco Use

Smoking causes about 30 percent of all U.S. deaths from cancer. Avoiding tobacco use is the single most important step Americans can take to reduce the cancer burden in this country.

Diet, Physical Activity, and Weight

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Red Meat Consumption
Fat Consumption
Alcohol Consumption
Physical Activity
Weight

Considerable evidence indicates that behavioral factors related to energy balance—such as diet and physical activity—as well as body weight that indicates the state of energy balance are known risk factors for many chronic diseases and conditions, including several forms of cancer. These combined factors may be the most significant, avoidable causes of cancer in the non-smoking population. Poor diet, physical inactivity, and overweight/obesity may account for about 25–30 percent of several of the major cancers in the United States.

Sun Protection

Sun Protection

The number of new cases of melanoma has increased between 1975 and 2008, with an estimated number of 76,250 new cases in 2012.

Environmental Factors

Certain chemicals, biological agents, toxins, industry factors, etc., are associated with the development of cancer. In this section, national trends data associated with environmental exposures and their relationship to cancer are reported. The environmental measures highlighted in this report were chosen based on the availability of national trends data and their inclusion in the Healthy People 2020 Report.

Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke (also known as environmental tobacco smoke) continues to be a leading environmental hazard. An expanded chapter on Secondhand smoke is presented in this year’s report update.

Chemical Exposures

Pesticides
Dioxins

Pesticides and dioxins were reported in the Cancer Trends Progress Report – 2009/2010 Update. Both exposures again appear in this update, with a special focus on pesticides for which new data have been presented.

Policy/Regulatory Factors

Tobacco Company
  Marketing Expenditures

Tobacco advertising and promotion increases Americans’ tobacco use.

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