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Cancer Deaths Dropping Despite Rise in New Cases

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 17, 2025.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 17, 2024 -- The cancer death rate continues to decline in the U.S. but new cases are rising among women, potentially undermining progress against the nation’s second-leading killer, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS).

The cancer death rate declined by 34% between 1991 and 2022, representing about 4.5 million deaths averted by early detection and improved treatments, the ACS said in its Cancer Statistics 2025 report published today.

However, new cancers among women and younger adults are increasing, the report found.

What's more, Native American and Black people still have much higher cancer death rates than whites.

“Continued reductions in cancer mortality because of drops in smoking, better treatment, and earlier detection is certainly great news,” lead researcher Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, said in a news release.

“However, this progress is tempered by rising incidence in young and middle-aged women, who are often the family caregivers, and a shifting cancer burden from men to women, harkening back to the early 1900s when cancer was more common in women,” Siegel said.

For example, cancer rates among women 50 to 64 have now surpassed those of men, with about 832 versus 830 cases for every 100,000 people, the report says.

And women younger than 50 now have an 82% higher cancer rate than men that age, about 141 versus 77 cases for every 100,000.

This shift can be partially blamed on increases in breast and thyroid cancers, which make up nearly half of all cancers in this age group and mostly impact women, the report stated.

Cancer rates in men younger than 50 are increasing for the four leading cancers -- colon, testicular, kidney and leukemia -- but are offset by declines in cancers like melanoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and prostate.

Additionally, “alarming inequalities in cancer mortality persist,” an ACS press release says.

Native American people bear the highest cancer death rates, and are two to three times higher than white people to die from kidney, liver, stomach, and cervical cancers, the report says.

And Black people are twice as likely as white people to die of prostate, stomach, and uterine corpus cancers, and 50% more likely to die from cervical cancer, which is preventable, according to the report.

“Progress against cancer continues to be hampered by striking, wide static disparities for many racial and ethnic groups,” senior researcher Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance and health equity science at ACS, said in a news release.

“It’s essential to help end discrimination and inequality in cancer care for all populations. Taking this step is vital to closing this persistent gap and moving us closer to ending cancer as we know it, for everyone,” Jemal added.

Other findings from the report:

• Progress is lagging against pancreatic cancer, which is the third-leading cause of U.S. cancer deaths. New cases and deaths are both increasing, and the five-year survival rate now stands at just 8% for nearly all cases.

• New colon cancer cases are rising among men and women younger than 65.

• Cervical cancer cases have increased in women 30 to 44.

• Cancer cases among children 14 and younger have declined in recent years, but continue to increase among teens 15-19.

• Cancer death rates have dropped by 70% in kids and 63% in teens since 1970, largely due to improved treatments for leukemia.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted January 2025

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