The number of deaths from cancer is down in the US but rates of prostate cancer are rising
The number of cancer deaths continues to decrease falling 33% from 1991 and saving around 3.8 millions lives as per an annual American Cancer Society report.
The individual aspects of that overall success story underscore the challenge of finding the most effective ways to detect, prevent and cure the disease for everyone.
On the bright side on the positive side, it is worth noting that the United States saw an “astounding” reduction of 65% in the rate of cervical cancer in women aged 20 to 24 from 2012 to 2019 directly due to HPV or human the papillomavirus (HPV) treatment, according to doctor. William Dahut, chief scientist of the American Cancer Society (ACS).
“The efforts that our children put into the past two decades or more through vaccinations literally saved many lives” Dahut stated, adding that the fall in the rate of cases “totally corresponds to the time at which HPV vaccines were developed.”
The chief executive officer Karen Knudsen added that “this is the first concrete evidence to suggest that HPV vaccination could reduce mortality rates and cancer incidence in the form of deaths.”
Unfortunately, the incidence of prostate cancers that are advanced are rising most likely due to confusion and disagreement regarding screening guidelines, ACS officials stated.
The second leading cause of cancer deaths among U.S. men, prostate cancer incidences increased by 3 percent every year between 2014 and 2019, following 20 years of decline, the report revealed.
There’s also seen a 5% increase year-over-year increase in men being diagnosed who have advanced prostate cancer “so we’re not catching these cancers earlier, and in time we have the opportunity to treat men,” Knudsen said.
Black males, particularly, are being affected by the increase in prostate cancer, as per the report.
“Black males, unfortunately are at risk of having a 70% increase in the incidence of prostate cancer as compared to white males and a two to fourfold rise in prostate cancer death rates] compared to any other race of the United States,” Knudsen declared.
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The leading authority in the United States in health screening, The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, suggests that men aged between 55 and 69 discuss the possible positives and negatives in prostate cancer screenings with their physician and then take a decision on their own.
American Cancer Society guidelines recommend that doctors talk about screening with men who are at an earlier age, 40 for those who have someone close to them who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. 45 is recommended for those who are at risk 50 for all other men.
Overall cancer deaths fall in U.S. rates of prostate cancer rise https://t.co/zXQ0YAdY2r
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The issue concerns that this screening instrument that is based on blood PSA (prostate-specific antigen) tests could be affected by other factors beyond prostate cancer, Knudsen said. For example, inflammation in the prostate could trigger an increase in PSA.
Patients who undergo prostate radiation therapy or surgery for cancer may suffer for the rest of their lives from adverse effects such as impotence or incontinence. Due to this, screening guidelines tend to be more conservative.
The science of the detection of prostate cancer has improved over the past few years, Dahut said.
Doctors have the ability to create an analysis of genetics that will identify increased risk for certain males. For example BRCA2 is a gene that is typically linked to breast cancer “puts individuals at a greater risk of developing more aggressive prostate cancers,” Dahut said.
The imaging tools have also been improved.
“MRI images of the prostate profoundly changed the way we think about how to determine if prostate cancer will exist and what to do to detect and take a biopsy,” Dahut said. “And there could be ways to conduct relatively quick MRIs. The researchers are actually doing it within the U.K. right now.”
Family background as well as genetic risk factors MRI results will help doctors identify possible prostate cancers in cases in which PSA levels have been elevated in other ways Dahut explained.
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Knudsen agreed.
“This isn’t the 1990s when a rise in PSA could trigger unwise strategies to remove the prostate,” she said. “We are well beyond that as a medical field.”
To combat the increasing incidence of prostate cancer to combat the growing incidence of prostate cancer, the ACS has launched its IMPACT initiative -which stands for Improving the mortality rate from prostate cancer Together.
It’s designed to end the discrimination in prostate cancer rates for Black men and to reduce deaths by 2035 overall, Knudsen said.
IMPACT is expected to include new study initiatives, better education and awareness efforts, as well as a rethinking of the prostate cancer screening guidelines She explained.
“With prostate cancer still being regarded as the second leading cause of death due to cancer and that trend towards the diagnosis of a more severe disease, we should not afford to sit in silence and do nothing,” Knudsen said.
The Cancer Statistics 2023 report contained positive news in other areas such as an all-time high five-year survival rate of 12% for pancreatic cancer. It was one percentage point higher than prior year.
It marks the second time in 2017, the pancreatic cancer survival rate cancer has increased for two consecutively as Pancreatic Cancer Action Network noted in a statement. Pancreatic Cancer Action Network noted in an announcement.
There’s no definitive way to detect pancreatic cancer. Typically, it is not accompanied by any symptoms. The condition is usually diagnosed late, when it’s already spread.
“For an illness as challenging as cancer of the pancreas, an annual rise by 1 percent is a significant and positive sign that indicates we’re moving towards the correct direction, and our systematic strategy is effective,” said Julie Fleshman as the CEO and president of the organization.
“But 12percent is the lowest survival rate over five years of all major cancers , so we must build upon this momentum and continue to invest in research that will lead to ways to detect cancer early and more effective treatments for patients with pancreatic cancer.”
The results were released on Thursday, online within CA: A Cancer Journal For Clinicians.