Tobacco-related cancer incidence and mortality rates dropped from 2004 to 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published on Nov. 11, 2016.
Overall, tobacco-related invasive cancer incidence decreased from 206 cases per 100,000 during 2004-2008 to 193 cases per 100,000 during 2009-2013.
The announcement of this data marks a continuation of the downward trend that has been observed since the 1990s, lead author S. Jane Henley, MSPH, and her associates at the CDC wrote in the report (MMWR. 2016 Nov 11;65[44]:1212-8).
Despite this continued decline in tobacco-related cancer incidence and mortality rates, the tobacco-related cancer burden remains high, and disparities in the rates and decline of tobacco-related cancer persists.
“Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States,” reported Henley and her associates. For each year between 2009 and 2013, an estimated 660,000 Americans were diagnosed with tobacco-related cancer, and an estimated 343,000 people died from those cancers, according to the investigators’ analysis of data collected by the United States Cancer Statistics working group, which compiles data from multiple nationwide sources including the National Program of Cancer Registries and the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program.
Tobacco-related cancer incidence and deaths were higher among men than women and higher among blacks than any other ethnic group. However, the cancer incidence and mortality rates also declined the fastest among men and blacks, compared with women and other ethnic groups, respectively.
Cancer incidence and death were also highest and decreased the most slowly in counties with lower educational attainment or highest poverty. Conversely, cancer incidence and mortality was the lowest and decreased the most quickly in metropolitan areas with populations greater than 1 million people.
Given that an estimated 40% of cancers diagnosed in the country and 3 in 10 cancer deaths are attributable to cigarette smoking and the use of smokeless tobacco, it is imperative that the CDC implement programs to help the almost 6 million smokers quit, CDC director Tom Frieden, MD, said in an associated telebriefing. Most people who smoke want to quit, and the health care system should do all it can to help them, Dr. Frieden said. At the same time, he echoed a claim from Henley’s paper, which said many tobacco-related cancers could be prevented by reducing tobacco use through implementation of evidence-based tobacco prevention and control interventions, such as increasing tobacco product prices, enforcing smoke-free laws, and promoting anti-tobacco mass media campaigns. These programs should be tailored to local geographic areas and demographics given the continued inconsistent progress and persistent disparities in tobacco-related cancer incidence and mortality, Dr. Frieden added.
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