The following facts and figures were taken from the American Cancer Society Web Page, whose address is given on the previous page.

WHAT ARE THE KEY STATISTICS ABOUT LUNG CANCER?

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.

In 1998,there will be about 171,500 new cases of lung cancer: 91,400 among men and 80,100 among women. Lung cancer will account for about 14% of all new cancers and about 29% of deaths from cancer. There will be an estimated 160,100 deaths from lung cancer: 93,100 among men and 67,000 among women, accounting for 29% of all cancer deaths.

Lung cancer is fairly rare in people under the age of 40. The number of cases increase after the age of 50, and increase more for people over age 65. The average age of people found to have lung cancer is 60.

Since 1987, more women have died each year of lung cancer than of breast cancer, which had been the major cause of cancer death in women for the past 40 years.

The one-year survival rate for lung cancer is up from 32% in 1973 to about 40%. This increase is largely a result of better methods of surgery and some progress in chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The five-year survival rate for all stages of lung cancer is 14%. For those whose cancer is found and treated early, before it has spread to lymph nodes or the other organs, the average survival rate is 49% (pointing out that in many the disease has spread(metastasis) but this is not apparent at time of diagnosis). However, only 15% of lung cancers are found at this early, localized stage.

WHAT ARE THE KEY STATISTICS ABOUT COLORECTAL CANCER?

Colon and rectal cancers account for about 11% of new cases of cancer in 1998. They result in about 10% of all of the deaths from cancer.

About 95,600 new cases of colon cancer and 36,000 new cases of rectal cancer will be diagnosed in 1998.

The death rate from colorectal cancer has been going down for the past 20 years. This may be because there are fewer cases, more of the cases are found early, and treatments have improved. The number of deaths from colon cancer in 1998 is expected to be 24,600 among women and 23,100 among men, for a total of 47,700.

About 8,800 people (4,800 men and 4,000 women) will die to rectal cancer during 1998.

The five-year survival rate is 92%for people whose colorectal cancer is found and treated in an early stage, before it has spread. But only 37% of colorectal cancer is found at that early stage. Once the cancer has spread to nearby organs or lymph nodes, the five-year survival rate goes down to 64%. For people whose colorectal cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the liver or lungs, the five-year survival rate is 7%.

Facts from the Harvard Report on Cancer Prevention

• Nearly two-thirds of cancer mortality in the United States can be linked to tobacco use, poor diet, and lack of exercise.
• Smoking accounts for 30% of all cancer deaths. Early onset of smoking increases risk of lung cancer and continuing to smoke in the adult years promotes the final stages of cancer formation.
• An estimated 30% of all US cancer deaths can be attributed to diet, including its effect on obesity.
• Women who are more than 35% above their ideal body weight have a 50 % greater chance of developing certain cancers-- notably uterus, breast, colon, and gallbladder.
• Men who are more than 35% above their ideal body weight have a 40% higher chance of developing certain cancers-- notably colon and prostate.
• Physical inactivity is associated with a two times increase in the risk of colon cancer.
• It is estimated that only 5 to 10% of most types of cancer are due to defects in single genes that run in families.

Excerpts from the National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet

• African American men have the highest lung cancer incidence and mortality rates.
• The risk of dying of lung cancer is 22 times higher for male smokers and 12 times higher for female smokers than for people who have never smoked.
• African American men have higher smoking rates than Hispanic or Caucasian men.
• Caucasian women have higher smoking rates than Hispanic and African American women.
• Caucasian adolescents have the highest smoking rates and African American adolescents have the lowest smoking rates.

**All of these facts and statistics are current as of 1998 and have been taken from each of the titled organization's web page. **

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