Flash Findings

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â–º FLASHFINDINGS:

Fast Facts from the Front Lines

Cancer Risk Factors and Mortality

• Environmental factors such as infectious

agents, poor nutrition, tobacco use, occupational

exposure to carcinogens, and

exposure to sunlight or pollutants account

for 75% to 80% of cancer diagnoses

and deaths in the United States. Source: Cancer Facts & Figures 2006, American Cancer Society

• Cancer was the second leading cause of

death in the United States in 2004, with

an average of 187.4 deaths per 100,000

people. Source: “Fast Facts A to Z,” National Center for Health Statistics, http:// www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/cancer.htm (cited January 2007)

• Adults who are long-term survivors of

childhood brain cancers or leukemia are

at increased risk for stroke. In a study of

about 4,800 patients, survivors of childhood

leukemia had a stroke rate of 0.8%,

with an average of 10 years between the

original diagnosis and the incidence of

stroke. The stroke rate in the control

group of patients who had not experienced

childhood leukemia was 0.2%. The

survivors of childhood brain tumors had

from 3.4% to 6.5% stroke rates, depending

on the type of treatment they had received

for the tumors. Patients who had

received both chemotherapy and radiation

therapy had the highest incidence

of stroke. The average interval from diagnosis

to stroke was 14 years in this

population. Source: “Childhood Cancer Survivors Face Long-Term Stroke Risk,” Medline Plus, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ medlineplus/news/fullstory_40994.html (cited January 2007)

Bladder Cancer

• An estimated 53,000 people are diagnosed ary 2007)

with bladder cancer in the United States

each year, with approximately 12,000

deaths from the disease annually. Source: “Bladder Cancer,” UrologyHealth.org, http://www.urologyhealth.org/adult/index. cfm?cat=04&topic=37 (cited January 2007)

• People who use tobacco are two to three

times more likely to develop bladder cancer

than those who do not. Source: “Bladder Cancer,” UrologyHealth.org, http:// www.urologyhealth.org/adult/index. cfm?cat=04&topic=37 (cited January 2007)

• Bladder cancer is the fourth most common

form of cancer among men and the

ninth most common among women; men

are four times more likely to develop

the disease than women. Source: Bladder Cancer, American Urological Association Foundation, http://www.urologyhealth. org/content/moreinfo/bladdercancer.pdf (cited January 2007)

Testicular Cancer

• Although testicular tumors are uncommon,

occurring in only three of every 100,000

men each year, testicular cancer is the

most common form of cancer in men.

• Patients whose testicular cancer is detected

and treated early have nearly a 100%

chance of cure when treatment consists

of a combination of surgery and chemotherapy.

Patients with advanced disease

have approximately 85% likelihood of a

cure with the combined treatment.

Source: “Testicular Cancer,” UrologyHealth.org, http://www.urologyhealth.org/adult/index.cfm?cat=04&topic=136 (cited January 2007)

Breast Cancer

• An estimated 214,640 new cases of breast

cancer were diagnosed in 2006, with

212,920 in women and 1,720 in men.

Deaths from breast cancer were estimated

at 41,430 (40,970 among women and

460 among men). Source: Cancer Facts & Figures 2006, American Cancer Society

• Mutations in genes BRCA1 and BRCA2

that increase susceptibility to breast

cancer are responsible for 5% to 10% of

all cases of the disease. However, testing

for the presence of these mutations

is not routinely performed because they

are present in less than 1% of the population.

Source: Cancer Facts & Figures 2006, American Cancer Society

• Breast cancer occurs in approximately

one in 3,000 pregnant women. This figure

is expected to increase, however, because

women are waiting longer to have

children, and the risk of breast cancer

increases with age. Source: “Pregnancy and Breast Cancer,” American Cancer Society, http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ CRI/content/CRI_2_6x_Pregnancy_and_ Breast_Cancer.asp?sitearea= (cited January 2007)