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Late-Stage Diagnosis of Cancer Cancers can be diagnosed at different stages in their development. Stage of cancer diagnosis may be expressed as numbers (for example, I, II, III, or IV) or by terms such as "localized," "regional," and "distant." The lower the number or the more localized the cancer, the better a person's chances of benefiting from treatment. Tracking the rates of late-stage (distant) cancers is a good way to monitor the impact of cancer screening. When more cancers are detected in early stages, fewer should be detected in late stages. Late-stage diagnosis rate: The number of new cancer cases diagnosed at a late (distant) stage, per 100,000 people per year. This report shows the rates for cancers of the prostate, colon, female breast, and cervix uteri. Period – 1980–2008 (Late-stage prostate data is presented for the years 1995 to 2008) Prostate: Late-stage prostate cancer incidence fell from 1995 to 2003, following the introduction of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, with non-significant change from 2003 to 2008. Colon: Late-stage colon cancer incidence fell for most of the period between 1980 and 2008. Rectum (including Rectosigmoid Junction): Incidence rates of late-stage cancer fell throughout the period between 1980 and 2008. Cervix: Incidence rates of late-stage cancer fell from 1980 to 2008. Female breast: Incidence rates of regional and late-stage cancer first rose and then fell during two separate intervals between 1980 and 2008 and falling most recently from 2001 to 2008. Download: data (Excel) | image (JPEG) Download: data (Excel) | image (JPEG) In 2008, the following five cancers were diagnosed at a late stage at the following rates: Prostate: 7.07 new cases per 100,000 men per year Colon: 6.55 new cases per 100,000 people per year Rectum: 1.92 new cases per 100,000 people per year Cervix: 0.66 new cases per 100,000 women per year Female breast: 43.54 new cases of regional and distant-stage cancer per 100,000 women per year Reduce new regional and distant stage female breast cancer cases to 41.0 per 100,000 females. Groups at High Risk for Late-stage Diagnosis People who do not have access to health care or do not receive regular, recommended cancer screening tests or experience a delay in following up on an abnormal screening test finding are at highest risk of being diagnosed with late-stage cancer. A lower rate of diagnosis at late stages is an early sign of the effectiveness of cancer screening efforts. These lower rates can be expected to occur before decreases in death rates are seen. For example, the drop in new cases of late-stage prostate cancer probably was an early indicator of lower death rates observed for this disease. Important differences among racial and ethnic groups in the percentage of cases diagnosed at a late stage contribute to disparities in cancer mortality. Additional Information on Stage at Diagnosis
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