American Cancer Society Archives - Page 2 of 2

For U.S. Hispanics, Cancer Top Killer, Not Heart

September 17, 2012

Cancer is now the leading killer of Hispanics in the U.S., the latest sign it's beginning to displace heart disease as the nation's top cause of death, the Associated Press reports: The rest of the country may not be far behind, "probably in the next 10 years," said Rebecca Siegel of the American Cancer Society. She is the lead author of a study reporting the new findings. That may be a conservative estimate. Government health statisticians think cancer could overtake heart disease as the top U.S. killer as early as this year, or at least in the next two or three. For decades, heart disease has been the nation's leading cause of death. But cancer has been closing in on it. That's largely because of better heart disease treatments, including statin drugs that lower cholesterol. Why is ...

U.S. Cancer Rates Keep Falling; Biggest Decline Among Hispanic, Black Men

January 5, 2012

A new report from the American Cancer Society indicates that cancer death rates are continuing to fall, dropping by 1.8% per year in men and 1.6% per year in women between 2004 and 2008, thanks to advances in cancer screening and treatment, Reuters reports. While the rate of decline is small, experts say, it is significant because it has continued to fall each year in the past 10. Cancer death rates among Hispanic men (2.3%) and black men (2.4%) had the biggest declines. But the news is not all good. According to the Reuters report: Despite improvements in the most common cancers, a companion report found an increase in cases of several cancers over the past decade, Reuters. These included cancers of the pancreas, liver, thyroid, and kidney and melanoma, as well as esophageal cancer ...