Earlier this month, the American Cancer Society (ACS) released its Cancer Statistics, 2023, the organization’s annual report on cancer facts and trends. According to the report, overall cancer mortality has dropped 33% since 1991, averting an estimated 3.8 million cancer deaths. Based on ACS data, in 2023 there are projected to be 1,958,310 new cancer cases and 609,820 cancer deaths in the United States. These findings were published today in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
However, two of the most critical findings from ACS’ annual report are driven by substantial cancer prevention and screening changes in the last decade. These findings are:
- A 65% reduction in cervical cancer rates in women ages 20-24 from 2012 through 2019, in the wake of the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
- Prostate cancer increased by 3% per year from 2014 through 2019 after two decades of decline.
“The large drop in cervical cancer incidence is extremely exciting because this is the first group of women to receive the HPV vaccine, and it probably foreshadows steep reductions in other HPV-associated cancers,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, and the lead author of the report.
However, prostate cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death for men in the U.S., saw an increase driven by the diagnosis of advanced disease. Since 2011, the diagnosis of advanced-stage (regional- or distant-stage) prostate cancer has increased by 4% to 5% annually and the proportion of men diagnosed with distant-stage disease has doubled.
“The increasing percentage of men presenting with advanced prostate cancer, which is much more difficult to treat and often incurable, is highly discouraging,” said Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, chief executive officer at the American Cancer Society. “In order to end cancer as we know it, for everyone, it is imperative for us to focus on cancers where trends for incidence and mortality are going in the wrong direction.”
As such, ACS is launching IMPACT, an initiative geared toward Improving Mortality from Prostate Cancer Together.
“IMPACT will fund bold new cancer research programs that connect the laboratory, the clinic, and the community,” said Dahut, the chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society. “These studies will help discern who is most at risk for prostate cancer, and how to prevent it.”
Additional IMPACT programs will enable the expansion of patient support to facilitate access to quality prostate cancer screening and care, as well as public policy advancement designed to directly address the burden of prostate cancer on the U.S. population.
