April 24, 2024

Medical Trend

Medical News and Medical Resources

2021 Cancer Statistics report: Cancer mortality rates continue to decline

2021 Cancer Statistics Report: Cancer mortality rates continue to decline

2021 Cancer Statistics Report: Cancer mortality rates continue to decline.  The 2021 cancer statistics report is released! Cancer mortality rates continue to decline, these 3 points are worth learning!

Every year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the North American Association of Central Cancer Registry (NAACCR), the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) jointly release the “National Cancer Data Annual Report” to provide cancer occurrence in the United States Rate and mortality data update.

On July 8, 2021, the latest edition of the “National Cancer Status Annual Report” was released. From 2001 to 2018, the overall cancer mortality rate for men and women of all races in the United States continued to decline. And according to the “2021 Cancer Statistics Report” published on January 12, 2021, from 1991 to 2018, the death rate of all cancers in the United States has dropped by 31%! This is the largest drop in cancer mortality in history, and it has also set a new historical record. This latest report was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The latest ranking of cancer mortality decline in 2021

The downward trend in mortality (cancer mortality) is the gold standard for evidence of progress in cancer control.

In general, from 2014 to 2018, the cancer mortality rate for men decreased by 2.2% per year (on average), women’s death rate decreased by 1.7% per year (average), and the mortality rates for children and adolescents decreased by 1.4% and 0.9% per year, respectively.

Between 2014 and 2018, 11 of the 19 most common cancers in men showed a decrease in mortality: leukemia, myeloma, cutaneous melanoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, colon/rectal cancer, laryngeal cancer, lung cancer, and bronchial cancer , Stomach cancer, bladder cancer, esophagus, kidney and renal pelvis tumors.

Fourteen of the 20 most common cancers in women showed reduced mortality: leukemia, myeloma, skin melanoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bladder cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colon/rectal cancer, esophageal cancer, gallbladder Cancer, renal cancer and renal pelvis tumors, lung and bronchial, ovarian and stomach cancers.

2021 Cancer Statistics Report: Cancer mortality rates continue to decline

The two cancers with the greatest decline in mortality

Among them, it is worth mentioning that the mortality rate of lung cancer and melanoma has decreased significantly for both men and women! In addition, the previous decline in the mortality rate of colorectal cancer and female breast cancer has slowed down, and the mortality rate of prostate cancer has stabilized.

  • The death rate of lung cancer has been reduced by almost half. The main reason is the decrease in the number of smokers and the improvement of early diagnosis, as well as the reform of treatment methods, especially the development of new drugs for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  • Although the incidence of new melanoma is on the rise, compared with other common cancers, the mortality rate of this cancer has dropped faster. The large decline in deaths from melanoma is mainly due to new therapies, such as targeted and immune checkpoint inhibitors.
  • From 1989 to 2018, the use of mammograms for breast cancer screening and improvements in treatment have reduced the mortality rate of breast cancer by more than 40%.
  • The PSA test can detect prostate cancer earlier. From the late 1990s to the late 2000s, the mortality rate of prostate cancer can be reduced by about 4% every year.
  • The decline in colorectal cancer mortality is mainly due to earlier screening and treatment reforms.

It should be noted that the mortality rate of some cancers has increased, such as midbrain and other nervous system tumors in men and women, pancreatic cancer, oral and pharynx tumors in men, and liver and uterine tumors in women. The most common types of cancer in children include leukemia, brain and other nervous system, and lymphoma.

The cancer mortality rate in the United States continues to decline. These three points are worth learning!


According to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the latest “Global Cancer Burden Data for 2020” shows: In 2020, there were 19.29 million new cancer cases in the world, of which 4.57 million were new cancers in China, accounting for 23.7% of the world. Ranked No. 1 in the world!

With the overall increase in the incidence and mortality of lung cancer in the world, why the United States can reduce the mortality rate of several major cancers, including lung cancer, year by year? To sum up, it is mainly to do these three things!

1.Cancer screening

The improvement and promotion of early cancer screening technology will allow more cancer patients to receive timely intervention and treatment in the early detection and improve the overall five-year survival rate.

  • Prostate cancer – the 5-year survival rate is about 99%!
  • Thyroid cancer-the 5-year survival rate is about 98%! (Depending on different organization types)
  • Testicular cancer – the 5-year survival rate is about 95.1%!
  • Melanoma – The 5-year survival rate is about 91.7%!
  • Early stage breast cancer —- Early stage (stage 0 and stage 1) 5-year survival rate: 99%-100%!

1)  Physical examination 15 years in advance

People with a genetic family history of tumors, in addition to general physical examinations, must go to cancer specialist hospitals or departments for cancer prevention physical examinations 15 to 20 years earlier than the age of cancer of their immediate family members. For example, if an immediate family member was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 55, then you should initiate a cancer prevention checkup when you are 35-40 years old.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing can detect cervical cancer early. In many high-income countries, mammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality. Fecal occult blood test screening reduces the mortality rate of colorectal cancer in clinical trials. Low-dose spiral CT scanning can reduce lung cancer mortality and reduce mortality.

2021 Cancer Statistics Report: Cancer mortality rates continue to decline

2) The most important thing to pay attention to is 40 years old and above

People over the age of 40 have a significantly increased risk of cancer, and more attention needs to be paid to regular cancer screening.

2.  Strictly control the main risk factors

No smoking

Lung cancer accounts for more than a quarter of people who die of cancer each year in the United States. In the smoking control campaign that began in the 1960s, the number of smokers has been declining for 40 years, and the total smoking ban in public places has imposed strict legal restrictions on the time and place of smoking. From 1990 to the present, the adult smoking rate has dropped from 42.4% to 16.8%. The rate of lung cancer decreased by 45% in men and 19% in women.

The decline in smoking directly reduces the morbidity and mortality of tobacco-related cancers (including lung cancer, laryngeal cancer and bladder cancer), as well as overall morbidity and mortality.

Weight control

Excessive weight is associated with an increased risk of at least 13 cancers, including colorectal cancer, postmenopausal breast cancer, uterine cancer, pancreatic cancer, and kidney cancer.

Studies have found that being overweight is associated with poor survival in patients with breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. Weight gain can cause approximately 8% of cancer cases and 7% of cancer deaths.

Increase exercise

It is estimated that 3% of all new cancer cases in the United States (46,300 in 2014) can be attributed to insufficient physical activity.

Studies have shown that physical exercise can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Physical exercise can improve the health-related quality of life of cancer survivors.

Control drinking

Drinking alcohol can lead to the development of at least six cancers, including: colon cancer, rectal cancer, female breast cancer, head and neck cancer and esophageal cancer. ‍

2021 Cancer Statistics Report: Cancer mortality rates continue to decline

3.  Innovative therapy leads the world

Compared to any other country, Americans can use more innovative drugs, so they have significant benefits in terms of overall survival. Especially for some rarer tumors with poor prognosis, basic research and the scientific research strength of related hospitals have a great impact on the survival chance of patients.

According to statistics, the average five-year survival rate for cancer in the United States is 66%, and that in China is 30.9%. And medicine is the basis for cancer patients to “continue their lives”.

Statistics in 2015 showed that the number of new drugs under research in the United States accounted for about 48.7% of the world, and almost half of the world’s new drugs were in the United States; the United Kingdom and Japan ranked second and third, accounting for only 8.0% and 7.0%; China It is only 4.1%, which is 44.6 percentage points behind the United States.

The advantages of rolling have allowed the United States to lead the world in terms of number and cutting-edge of new drugs and new therapies. The latest cancer progress report in 2020 shows that from August 1, 2019 to July 31, 2020, the FDA has approved 20 new therapies for the treatment of certain types of cancer patients, and at the same time, it has expanded 15 kinds of anti-inflammatory drugs. Indications for cancer treatment drugs, anti-cancer drugs are on the market in a spurt.

By the first half of 2021, the FDA has approved a total of 22 new anti-cancer therapies, including targeted, immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cellular immunotherapy, etc., covering almost all types of cancer. It is worth mentioning that the two refractory targets of KRAS and EGFR20ins broke the deadlock in treatment, ushered in the first targeted drug, and many lucky patients waited for new hope and treatment options.

Stride forward to make the future medical care better!

Although we understand the advantages of cancer treatment in the United States, cancer is a very complex disease after all, and there is no magical medicine in the United States. Especially patients in advanced stages, sometimes in order to catch the last straw, blindly go to the United States for medical treatment, but many will go back in vain and disappointed. In fact, the biggest advantage of the United States is that new drugs are launched quickly and there are many clinical trials. Therefore, for new drugs that are not available in China or patients with rare cancers, the opportunities are greater. In addition, the United States has better medical services and experience, which provides better care for patients. And high-quality service. But for many standard treatment methods, the difference between the top three hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and the United States is not that big.

Especially in the past two years, our country has introduced market-oriented reform plans for various anti-cancer life-saving drugs, and we can also feel that since the reform of the drug review and approval system, the speed of listing of new domestic drugs has increased significantly.

Numerous new drug developments and innovative technologies are on the way. I believe that more drugs will be approved for marketing in 2021! Every advancement in medical treatment is the common gospel of our mankind!

2021 Cancer Statistics Report: Cancer mortality rates continue to decline

(source:internet, reference only)


Disclaimer of medicaltrend.org


Important Note: The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice.