Despite cancer diagnoses remaining relatively consistent in recent years, more people than ever are impacted by the fatal disease post-pandemic.
Between 2015 and 2019, the rate of deaths attributed to cancer fell by 2.1% every year, the fastest rate recorded in the past two decades.
The findings published at the end of October in the journal “Cancer,” published by the American Cancer Society, provided insight into medical advancements in the field.
Between 2014 and 2018, deaths from cancer fell while, at the same time, new cancer diagnoses remained relatively static for most groups. Women and young adults aged 15-39 were the exceptions, experiencing a bump in diagnoses over the period.
“Improved treatments increase survival and can cure patients, leading to fewer cancer deaths even as more people are being diagnosed,” according to the lead author of the study, Dr. Kathy Cronin of the National Cancer Institute.
Despite the positive conclusion of the study, some forms of the disease remained high and continue to rise. In particular, rates of kidney, pancreas, myeloma, and female breast cancers, continue to grow in the country.
These types of cancers often correlate with poor health habits and medical conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have explained that diabetes, obesity, and a lack of physical activity are all believed to drive rising rates of certain types of cancer.
A reduction in smoking was identified as a significant contributor to the drop in pre-pandemic cancer deaths. Lung cancer rates fell precipitously, and so did subsequent deaths tied to the disease.
Advancements in screening and treatment similarly helped. Even still, lung cancer remains the number one cause of cancer death in the United States.
The researchers also highlighted the persistent disparity in cancer rates between different ethnicities. African American women, for example, continued to suffer from disproportionately elevated breast and uterine cancer rates.
The researchers found that black Americans faced the highest rates of death from cancer, while American Indian and Alaska Native people experienced the highest rates of diagnosis.
Dr. William Dahut, cancer physician and chief scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, was cautiously optimistic. “We are making progress,” he recently told ABC News.
The study revealed that “prevention, screening, and better treatment can make a difference, but more work is needed.” Dahut said.
Earlier detection, coupled with advancements in cancer treatment, attributed to falling cancer deaths before the pandemic.
After COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out in 2021, “cancer patients have gotten younger, with the largest increase occurring among 30- to 50-year-olds.”
In addition, “tumor sizes are dramatically larger, multiple tumors in multiple organs are becoming more common, and recurrence and metastasis are increasing,” according to a Swedish pathologist, researcher, and senior physician at Lund University, Dr. Ute Kruger.