Overall cancer incidence and death rates have stabilized, a trend that began in the mid- to late 1990s, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published in the September 3 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The report, produced annually by the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, updates statistics on lung, female breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers and highlights the uses of selected surveillance data to assist in the development of state-based cancer control plans.

The authors note that observed cancer incidence rates for all cancer sites combined increased from the mid-1970s through 1992, decreased from 1992 through 1995, and were essentially stable from 1995 through 2000. Death rates for all cancer sites combined decreased beginning in 1994 and stabilized from 1998 through 2000, resulting in part from recent revisions in the coding system used on death certificates. Analysis of state data for the leading cancers revealed mixed progress in achieving national objectives outlined in Healthy People 2010, an agenda for health promotion goals created by several federal agencies.

Contact: National Cancer Institute, 301-496-6641, ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov

Carboplatin Regimen Better Tolerated in Patients with Advanced Ovarian Cancer

The chemotherapy regimen of carboplatin plus paclitaxel is as effective as cisplatin plus paclitaxel, but the carboplatin-paclitaxel regimen is associated with better tolerability and quality of life, according to a study from the Ovarian Cancer Study Group in Germany.

Ovarian cancer is rarely cured and more than 50% of patients die within 5 years of being diagnosed wit
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Contact: Linda Wang
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
2-Sep-2003