MBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 10:00 AM EST January 7, 2014FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:David SampsonCorporate CommunicationsAmerican Cancer SocietyEmail: david.sampson@cancer.orgCancer Statistics 2014: Deaths Continue to DropProgress Most Rapid for Middle-Aged African American MenATLANTA – Jan. 7, 2014–The annual cancer statistics report from the American Cancer Society finds steady declines in cancer death rates for the past two decades add up to a 20 percent drop in the overall risk of dying from cancer over that time period. The report, Cancer Statistics 2014, finds progress has been most rapid for middle-aged black men, among whom death rates have declined by approximately 50 percent. Despite this substantial progress, black men continue to have the highest cancer incidence and death rates among all ethnicities in the U.S.–about double those of Asian Americans, who have the lowest rates.Each year, the American Cancer Society estimates the numbers of new cancer cases and deaths expected in the United States in the current year and compiles the most recent data on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival based on incidence data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. The data are disseminated in two reports, Cancer Statistics, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and its companion article, Cancer Facts & Figures.This year’s report estimates there will be 1,665,540 new cancer cases and 585,720 cancer deaths in the United States in 2014. Among men, prostate, lung, and colon cancer will account for about half of all newly diagnosed cancers, with prostate cancer alone accounting for about one in four cases. Among women, the three most common cancers in 2014 will be breast, lung, and colon, which together will account for half of all cases. Breast cancer alone is expected to account for 29% of all new cancers among women.The
