The rate of lung cancer in women is declining.
June 17, 2011- The American Cancer Society has announced the first decline in lung cancer deaths in women since records first starting being keep. The number fell by over 1% from 2003 to 2007. Even though the numbers were very impressive not all sectors are seeing similar benefits.
For example those who stopped their education at high school or before had a 2.6 fold higher death rate for cancer than those that went on to higher education. The disparity was most obvious for lung cancer. This showed there was almost a five fold difference in the men and four fold in the women between the less educated and the higher educated.
Overall incidence of cancer appeared stable in men from between 2005 to 2007 but cancer in women has been on a steady decline since 1998 at a rate of -0.6% annually. The four major cancer sites – lung and brochus, breast, prostate and colorectum – all declined including a significant decline among women for the most recent data.
Overall the death rates in cancer decreased by just less than 2% from 2001 through 2007 in men and 1.5% for women from 2002 to 2007. Data from the National Cancer Institute, the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, The Centers for Disease Control and from the National Center for Health Statistics was used to calculate the latest figures just released.
