Reality Check on Cancer: Fast Progress But Too Many Preventable Deaths
The latest status report from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) shows that most cancer deaths are avoidable.
Compared to 1990, one million fewer people died of cancer and the number of cancer survivors – currently at 13.7 million in the U.S., continues to climb.
That’s due to new drugs that are finally reaching the market after decades of research and development, according to researchers at the AACR. In the past year, 11 new drugs were approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat cancer; eight of them belong to a class of medications known as targeted therapies that are designed specifically to attack genetic mutations in tumor cells and block their ability to grow. “We are finally seeing the payoff of investments over the past ten to 30 years that built up a body of knowledge about the underpinnings and root causes of cancer,” says Dr. Charles Sawyers, president of AACR and chair of human oncology and pathogenesis at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
But while cancer care if becoming more sophisticated and personalized, deaths from preventable disease continue to plague not just the U.S. but populations worldwide. Half of all cancer deaths are avoidable by reducing exposure to the sun, quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy weight. One third of cancer deaths in the U.S. is caused by tobacco, and another third are associated with obesity, a still emerging risk factor for cancer that much of the public has yet to appreciate.
“I’m not sure how much the link between obesity and cancer has penetrated the public awareness,” says Dr. Cy Stein, deputy director of the comprehensive cancer center at the City of Hope Medical Center. “If we could eliminate that, another 20% to 30% of cancer deaths could be eliminated.”
In recent years, studies have linked obesity to a higher risk of developing esophageal, colorectal, endometrial, kidney, pancreatic and breast cancers. Hormonal changes, as well as agents released by fat tissue can create fertile conditions for inflammation, a process that accelerates the cancer process.
