Newsletter
ATLANTA, USA/LONDON, U.K.: Although the death rate from cancer in general has declined steadily over the past two decades, the latest statistics published by researchers in the U.K. and the U.S. indicate that the number of cases and deaths due to oral and esophageal cancer have risen significantly.
According to the latest figures published by the American Cancer Society, the overall risk of dying from cancer decreased by 20 percent between 1991 and 2010. For 2014, the society estimates a total of 1,665,540 new cancer cases and 585,720 deaths from cancer in the U.S.
With regard to cancer of the oral cavity, 42,440 new cases are expected, with 30,220 occurring in men and 12,220 in women, indicating a significant increase compared with recent years. The society stated that in 2005 approximately 29,500 patients died from cancer of the tongue, mouth, pharynx or other unspecified parts of the oral cavity.
Statistics published on Monday by Cancer Research UK, a U.K. charity organization primarily concerned with raising money to fund cancer research, show that the number of people dying from esophageal cancer has increased by almost 50 percent in the last 40 years. Currently, about 7,600 people in the U.K. die each year from esophageal cancer, compared with about 3,800 in 1971. For men in particular, mortality rates have risen by 65 percent since the 1970s. According to the organization, esophageal cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the U.K. today.
The report on estimated cancer cases and deaths in the U.S. in 2014, titled "Cancer Statistics, 2014," was published online on Jan. 7 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians ahead of print. More information on death rates from esophageal cancer in the U.K. can be found on Cancer Research UK's website.
