Cancer Death Rates Lower; Throat and Anal Cancer on the rise

The latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer is reporting that cancer related deaths have fallen 20% from its peak in 1991. However, researchers have noticed a curious spike in throat and anal cancer. Experts are saying that this rise is linked to human papillomavirus, or HPV, which is a common sexually transmitted infection that can be transmitted orally, vaginally, or analy. The report states that throat cancer caused by HPV is on the rise in white men and women, while anal cancer caused by HPV is more prevalent in black men and women.

Good News and Bad News

The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, which has been published annually since 1998, is co-authored by the American Cancer Society, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Association, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. The most recent report explains that the amount of deaths related to prostate, colon, and breast cancer have dropped significantly due to advancements in early detection and treatment improvements, and may continue to do so. There has also been a 30% reduction in lung cancer, which researchers attribute to reductions in smoking. Overall, the cancer death rate for men dropped to 1.8 percent, while the cancer death rate for women dropped to 1.4 percent.

 Last year’s report noted that there has been an increase in esophagus, kidney, uterus, and pancreas cancer due to obesity, and this year’s report reiterated this fact. The report stressed that obese people had a higher chance of developing cancer, due to fat tissues producing excessive levels of estrogen and insulin.

The report had a special section dedicated to the growing problem of HPV-related cancers. Each year, more than 21,000 HPV-associated cancers occur in women, while over 12,000 HPV-associated cancers occur in men. Researchers stress that HPV related cancers are easily avoided thanks to vaccinations. Unfortunately, in 2010, only 48.7 percent of girls aged 13-17 had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine, while only 32 percent had received all three recommended doses. Researchers hope that by educating people on the dangers of HPV-related cancers they will see the numbers drop.

“This year’s report correctly and usefully emphasizes the importance of HPV infection as a cause of the growing number of cancers of the mouth and throat, the anus, and the vulva, as well as cancers of the uterine cervix, and the availability of vaccines against the major cancer-causing strains of HPV” said NCI Director Harold Varmus, M.D. “But the investments we have made in HPV research to establish these relationships and to develop effective and safe vaccines against HPV will have the expected payoffs only if vaccination rates for girls and boys improve markedly.”

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