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Cancer statistics: pluses and minuses.


Cancer statistics: Pluses and minuses

while scientists and the medical health profession continue to improve cancer treatments and prolong pro·long  
tr.v. pro·longed, pro·long·ing, pro·longs
1. To lengthen in duration; protract.

2. To lengthen in extent.
 patients' lives, the number of new cancer cases keeps rising by about 1 percent each year, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 a report released last week by the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. Summarizing the latest (1985) data on cancer incidence and mortality, the annual report, unlike its predecessors, also includes a look at long-term Long-term

Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year.


long-term

1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term.
 cancer trends, starting in 1950.

Edward Sondik from the institute's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control said last week that the increases have been largely due to increases in lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell. , still the leading cause of cancer deaths. But figures also indicate that new cases of lung cancer and deaths from the disease are decreasing or leveling off for many groups. Despite the good news regarding lung cancer, data based on all cancer sites combined show increases in both incidence (the number of new cases each year per 100,000 of a population) and mortality. During the 36-year period studied, incidence of all cancers increased 36 percent, while mortality increased 6.7 percent. Overall survival, based on 5-year survival beyond initial diagnosis, increased from 39 to 50 percent.

Most dramatic of the changing trends are those for cervical cancer Cervical Cancer Definition

Cervical cancer is a disease in which the cells of the cervix become abnormal and start to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors.
, stomach cancer, melanoma melanoma: see skin cancer.
melanoma

Dark-coloured malignant tumour of skin cells that produce the protective skin-darkening pigment melanin.
 and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma non-Hodg·kin's lymphoma
n.
Any of various malignant lymphomas characterized by the absence of Reed-Sternberg cells.


Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 
, says Sondik, who presented the report at the regular meeting of the National Cancer Advisory Board. Incidence of cervical cancer fell 77 percent, with mortality also dropping 73 percent - a sign of improved early detection methods, says Sondik. Stomach cancer's incidence and mortality also decreased by about 70 percent. On the other side, melanoma showed the greatest increase, with incidence more than doubling. Fortunately, says Sondik, mortality has not risen nearly so fast, because of better diagnosis. But for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, both mortality and incidence rose about 120 percent.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Science Service, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1988, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Science News
Date:Feb 13, 1988
Words:306
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