Cancer Death Rates Dropping Fast

[Pocatello]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071015/D8S9L9LO0.html

My grandfather died of colon cancer. Fold on for the Cure!

While it remains the nation's No. 2 cancer killer, deaths are dropping faster for colorectal cancer than for any other malignancy - by almost 5 percent a year among men and 4.5 percent among women.

_Cancer mortality is improving faster among men, with drops in death rates of 2.6 percent a year compared with 1.8 percent a year for women.

_Lung cancer explains much of the gender difference. Male death rates are dropping about 2 percent a year while female death rates finally are holding steady after years of increases. Smoking rates fell for men before they did for women, so men reaped the benefits sooner.

_Overall, the rate of new cancer diagnoses is inching down about one-half a percent a year.

_New breast cancer diagnoses are dropping about 3.5 percent a year, a previously reported decline due either to women shunning postmenopausal hormone therapy or to fewer getting mammograms.

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[Anderu]

This question has probably been asked before, but have our DC efforts contributed to any measurable improvements in the human condition as yet?

I am overjoyed to see that rates for these types of cancers are dropping, but it sounds as if early diagnosis and lifestyle changes were the driving forces behind these latest numbers. I would love to hear that some nubbin' cranking away out there, turned in a WU that helped unlock a potential cure, or perhaps the last link in a miracle medicine.

Anything like that happening?

 

[Bill Clo]

This question has probably been asked before, but have our DC efforts contributed to any measurable improvements in the human condition as yet?

I am overjoyed to see that rates for these types of cancers are dropping, but it sounds as if early diagnosis and lifestyle changes were the driving forces behind these latest numbers. I would love to hear that some nubbin' cranking away out there, turned in a WU that helped unlock a potential cure, or perhaps the last link in a miracle medicine.

Anything like that happening?

I asked this question about a year and a half ago, and BillR was kind enough to point me to an improved prostate cancer test based upon protein detection. Apparently FAH was useful there.

Edit*** found a news article today that makes me suspect they used FAH data as well; and developed at Stanford as well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7041192.stm