Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer

I October 2022, Cancer published part one of the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, which provides statistics on incidence and mortality rates across cancer types and demographics.1,2 The new report highlights the progress made in reducing the burden of cancer through advances in prevention, early detection, and treatments as well as the ongoing challenges in accelerating progress. The report holds no surprises, but the findings are a mixed bag of good and bad news according to Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD, head of the Department of Surveillance and Health Equity Science at the American Cancer Society and the senior author of the report. The good news Overall, cancer mortality decreased during the most recent period, and incidence rates remained relatively stable for many cancer types. The report showed that between 2015 and 2019, overall cancer death rates fell by 2.3% per year for men and by 1.9% per year for women; these declines were seen for 11 of the 19 most common cancers in men and for 14 of the 20 most common cancers in women. Mortality also declined among children younger than 15 years and adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 39 years, with an overall reduction in cancer mortality of 3.0% per year from 2001 to 2005. The largest declines in cancer death rates—more than 4% per year—occurred for lung cancer and melanoma because of the development and dissemination of targeted therapies and immunotherapies for these cancers over the past decade, says Dr Jemal. The decline in lung cancer mortality was the major contributor to the steep decline in overall cancer mortality during the most recent period. Another piece of good news is the decline in incidence rates for several common cancers in men and women. In women, incidence rates decreased for seven of the most common cancers (thyroid cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and cancers of the brain and other nervous systems), with the largest decrease seen in thyroid cancer (2.9% per year). For men, incidence rates decreased for eight of the most common cancers (lung and bronchus cancer, laryngeal cancer, urinary bladder cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, cancers of the brain and other nervous systems, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and thyroid cancer), with the largest decreasing trend seen in lung cancer (2.6% per year). Between 2014 and 2018, overall cancer incidence rates remained relatively stable in men and women combined.