Population-based cancer survival (2001 to 2009) in the United States: Findings from the CONCORD-2 study.

In this supplement to Cancer, we provide survival estimates by race (black vs white), state of residence at the time of diagnosis, and stage of disease at the time of diagnosis for 9 solid tumors in men and women 1–9 and for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children.10 Data are from 37 statewide cancer registries that participated in the CONCORD-2 study,11 covering approximately 80% of the US population. Each of the 10 cancer-specific articles includes clinical and cancer control perspectives. These perspectives highlight how clinical practice may have had an impact on population-based cancer survival trends, and how states funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program12 can use population-based survival data, along with incidence and mortality data, to inform cancer control activities.13 The Growing Cancer Burden Cancer may soon become the leading cause of death in the United States: it is already the leading cause in nearly one-half of all states.14 Although the risk of dying of cancer continues to decrease, as measured by the age-standardized death rate, the actual number of cancer deaths continues to increase.15 This increase is being driven to a large extent by demographic trends related to a growing and aging US population. By 2020, nearly 2 million men, women and children and children will be diagnosed with cancer annually.16 In addition, the number of individuals living with and after a cancer diagnosis (cancer survivors) also will increase from an estimated 14 million in 2012 to 18 million by 2022.17 Cancer survivors remain at risk of recurrence of their cancer, the development of subsequent new cancers, and side effects related to their cancer treatment.18 The prevention of many of these cancers is possible through behavioral, environmental, policy, and clinical interventions to address the wide range of factors that put individuals at increased risk of developing cancer over their lifetime.19 However, even if all known effective strategies for cancer prevention were broadly implemented today, the impact on cancer incidence would likely not be observed for several decades due to the long latency period for many cancers. The anticipated increase in the number of new patients with cancer and survivors poses an enormous challenge for the US health care system to meet the need to screen, diagnose, and treat these individuals.20,21 It also is a major challenge to the public health community to help patients with cancer meet the financial, physical, and psychological challenges related to their cancer experience, including difficulties in returning to full economic activity.22,23 To address the challenge of the growing cancer burden, the CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control collaborates with state and national partners to implement public health strategies to promote primary prevention, cancer screening, early diagnosis, and access to effective evidence-based treatment and survivorship care plans.12 The challenge for the public health community is to put in place primary prevention and early detection strategies for the general population while meeting the growing needs of patients with cancer and cancer survivors.