This annual report to the nation, which this year includes statistics on the 15 most common cancers in the five major racial and ethnic populations in the United States for 1995 to 2002 and features a section on trends in the delivery and determinants of cancer treatment, is a collaborative effort by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR), and the American Cancer Society.

To produce this report, the authors, led by Brenda K. Edwards, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute, gathered data on cancer incidence and deaths from the NCI, CDC, and NAACCR. They also derived population-based treatment data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, SEER-Medicare linked databases, and NCI Patterns of Care/Quality of Care studies.

Among men, cancer incidence remained stable from 1995 through 2002, and the overall rate of cancer death decreased by 1.5% per year from 1993 through 2002. Incidence of melanoma and cancers of the esophagus, kidney, and prostate increased, but incidence of cancers of the colon and rectum, larynx, lung, oral cavity, and stomach decreased. Death rates decreased for 12 of the 15 most common cancers.

Among women, cancer incidence increased by 0.3% per year from 1987 through 2002, but the overall rate of cancer death decreased by 0.8% per year from 1992 through 2002. Incidence of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, melanoma, and cancers of the bladder, breast, kidney, and thyroid increased, but incidence of cancers of the cervix, colon and rectum, oral cav
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Contact: Sarah L. Zielinski
jncimedia@oxfordjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
4-Oct-2005