According to new American Cancer Society statistics for 2010, 142,570 people will hear the difficult words, “You have colorectal cancer”, down from 146,970 in 2009.

Still, 51,370 families will get painful news when loved ones die from colorectal cancer.

Continuing this year, African Americans are more likely to develop colorectal cancer than whites and other races, to die of it, and to have poorer survival at every stage of the disease.

Each year the American Cancer Society estimates the number of new cases and deaths from cancer expected in the United States in that year.  They study trends in cancer rates and look at the impact of various types of cancer.

In 2010 colorectal cancer will again be the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and women and the second most common cause of cancer death.

2010 Colon and Rectal Cancer

Incidence

• In 2010, 102,900 new cases of colon cancer and 39,670 cases of rectal cancer will be diagnosed for a total of 142,570.
• This is a reduction of 4,400 new cases over last year’s estimate of 146,970.
• 72,090 men will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer (9 percent of all cancers) and 70,480 women (10 percent of the total).
• Incidence rates are projected at 59.0 per 100,000 men and 43.6 per 100,000 women – a decrease from 61.2 for men and 44.8 for women in 2009.
• Over a lifetime, 1 in 19 men and 1 in 20 women will develop colon or rectal cancer.

Deaths

Although the number of deaths from colorectal cancer are expected to increase in 2010, rates for both new cases and deaths continue to go down. As the American population grows and ages, more people are vulnerable to colorectal cancer.

• 51,370 deaths from colorectal cancer are expected in 2010, up 1,450 from 49,920 in 2009.
• 26,580 men and 24,790 women will die.
• After all cancer rates peaked for men in 1990, colorectal cancer death rates dropped by 10.27  per 100,000 men from 30.77  to 20.51, accounting for a third of the decrease in all cancers.
• For women, cancer rates peaked in 1991.  Since then women’s colorectal cancer death rates have dropped from 20.30 to 14.53, accounting for about 30 percent of the overall cancer death rate decrease.

Five year survival

• In the years between 1975 and 1977, just over half of people with colorectal cancer lived five years past diagnosis (52 percent).
• By 1999 through 2005, two out of three would live those five years (66 percent).

African American Disparities

Incidence Rates Per 100,000 by Race and Ethnicity

Five-Year Survival Percentages by Race

2010 Overall Cancer Burden

• 1,529,560 new cases of cancer are expected in 2010.
• 569,490 people will die of cancer.
• Incidence rates (rates per 100,000 people) have been going down 1.3 percent each year for men in the years 2000 through 2006.
• For women, incidence decreased by 0.5 percent each year from 1998 through 2006.

Although the rates of new cancers and cancer deaths are going down, cancer remains the leading killer of people under the age of 85 in the United States.

One in four deaths is due to cancer.

In 2010, 1,529,560 people will be diagnosed with cancer and 569,490 will die.

In reporting cancers statistics for 2010, the ACS team wrote,

Although progress has been made in reducing incidence and mortality rates and improving survival, cancer still accounts for more deaths than heart disease in persons younger than 85 years. Further progress can be accelerated by applying existing cancer control knowledge across all segments of the population and by supporting new discoveries in cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment.

SOURCE: Jemal et al., Cancer Statistics, 2010, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, published online July 7, 2010.

For comparisons to 2009, see Jemal et al., Cancer Statistics 2009, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Volume 59, Number 4, July/August 2009.

Image: Figure #3: Jemal, Cancer Statistics 2009,  CA Cancer J Clin 2010, online July 7, 2010.

In the Annual Report to the Nation, the rate of newly diagnosed cancer fell 1.7 percent per year between 2001 and 2005.  Death rates for all cancers combined fell 1.8 percent annually during the same time period.

Both incidence of new colorectal cancers and colorectal cancer death rates continued to decline with the new report.  Between 1998 and 2005, incidence rates for men fell 3 percent annually while rates for women declined 2.4 percent.  Death rates fell 4.3 percent between 2002 and 2005 for both sexes.

The Annual Report to the Nation is yearly collaboration among the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR). It provides updated information on cancer trends in the United States.

Colorectal cancer incidence rates declined for all races for both men and women.  Overall, 61 of every 100,000 men and 45 in 100,000 women were diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer in the United States.  Twenty-three men and 16 women per 100,000 Americans died from the disease.

The Report believes that the growing reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer may be associated with increased screenings. In 1987 a little over 1 in every 4 Americans over age 50 (27 percent) were screened for colorectal cancer.  By 2005 half (50 percent) reported having been screened for the disease.  While use of fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) fell from 17 percent to 12 percent between 2000 and 2005, colonoscopy screening increased from 20 percent to 39 percent.

Commenting on the reduced rates for both incidence and mortality for colorectal cancer, John L. Petrini, MD, FASGE, president of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy said,

This report demonstrates the importance of colorectal cancer screening beginning at age 50., Individuals with other risk factors, including a family history of colon cancer or polyps, and African Americans, may need screening at an earlier age. This disease is largely preventable and curable when diagnosed in its early stages. While we are encouraged by this excellent news, far too few people are getting screened. ASGE recommends colonoscopy screening beginning at age 50 and repeating every 10 years after a normal exam. Colonoscopy plays a very important role in colorectal cancer screening and prevention because it is the only method that allows for the detection and removal of precancerous polyps during the same exam and before the polyps turn into cancer.

In addition to reporting cancer incidence and death rates and trends, the Annual Report this year looked at lung cancer across states and among sex and age groups.  They found a wide difference in lung cancer rates between states where smoking is more common and states with lower smoking prevalence.  Lung cancer rates among women have just begun to level off, driven by older women who began smoking after World War II and lower “quit rates” among older women.

Concluding, Ahmedin Jemal, Ph.D., from the American Cancer Society, and his colleagues wrote,

Although the decrease in overall cancer incidence and death rates is encouraging, large state and regional differences in lung cancer trends among women underscore the need to maintain and strengthen many state tobacco control programs.

SOURCE: Jemal et al., Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Volume 100, Number 23, December 3, 2008.