New Cancer Rates Show Numbers Stabilizing in Massachusetts
By Cyndi Roy for the State House News Service

       The number of Massachusetts residents afflicted with cancer has remained stable over five years, though the number of women diagnosed with and dying from lung cancer is on the rise, state public health officials announced Tuesday.
       A report released Tuesday by the Department of Public Health examines the cancer incidences and death rates for 23 types of cancers and all cancers combined. It also compares trends in Massachusetts to those tracked by 27 other cancer registries in five major metropolitan areas.
       Between 1998 and 2002, the last year for which data is available, 171,729 new cancer cases were diagnosed in Massachusetts and 69,298 residents died from the disease, according to the report. Death rates declined 1 percent among men from 1998 and 2002, and one-tenth of a percent for women.
       “We’re very fortunate in Massachusetts to have many cancer prevention programs,” said Susan Gershman, director of the state cancer registry, who called the report “good news” several times during her presentation to members of the Public Health Council.
       Compared to the US average, Massachusetts had slightly higher incidence rates, but comparable death rates, according to the report.
The leading forms of cancer among men are prostate, lung, and colon/rectum, according to the report. Women suffer most from breast, lung, and colon/rectum cancers.
       While most forms of the disease have decreased or risen just slightly among residents, officials say they are particularly concerned about lung cancer, for which there is no early detection system.
“If people would just stop smoking, rates would really decline,” Gersham said.
       Among women, the incidence of lung cancer has risen every year. Deaths associated with lung cancer have also risen, though they appear to be stabilizing at a growth rate of just 0.1 percent in 2002. While still
serving as the second leading cause of death among cancer patients,
incidences and deaths from lung cancer have declined among men.
       Gersham and Sally Fogerty, assistant commissioner of the Center for
Community Health, say more women are being diagnosed with lung cancer
because women started smoking later last century than men.
       “Men took up smoking in the ‘40s and ‘50s, and women waited about a decade or so later,” Gersham said. “We expect the numbers among women to rise and then stabilize and eventually decline among women.”
       Though lung cancer afflicts more women, breast cancer remains the most common type of cancer among females, accounting for almost a third of all new cancer cases. The good news, Gersham said, is that that form of the disease is on the decline, thanks to early detection programs and education about the importance of mammograms. The number of breast cancer cases decreased 2.5 percent between 1998 and 2002.
       Prostate cancer is the most common type of the disease among men, and increased 0.5 percent in those five years. In 2002, 182 per 100,000 males were inflicted with prostate cancer. However, the report says, there has been an overall decrease in prostate cancer from its peak of 217 per
100,000 males in 1992.
       African American men are especially at risk, though no one is certain why, Fogerty said.
       “We don’t know why,” she said. “No one does. And it’s not just in
Massachusetts. This is a nationwide issue.”
       According to Fogerty, there are several research studies underway at the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the
National Cancer Institute to determine why the incidence and mortality rate for black men is more than one and a half times the rate for white men.
       The report also shows cases of melanoma, and myeloma increased among men, while uterine, ovarian, and bladder cancer incidences rose among women.
       Massachusetts has several cancer screening programs, funded in part by the CDC, that include outreach, awareness and education for colorectal, prostate, and skin cancers. The Women’s Health Network, funded by the state and federal government, promotes early detection of breast and cervical cancer.
       Lawmakers this year have pledged to restore funding to enhance those programs. The Senate Ways and Means budget being debated this week includes increased funding for colon cancer screening after Senate President Robert Travaglini (D-East Boston) promised the American Cancer Society in March to add $185,000 to the budget for the program.