close

Cancer report offers dose of good news

2 min read

We comment on plenty of bad news on this page – worrisome trends, misbegotten notions, flawed public officials and all the things that can set teeth to grinding and blood pressure rising.

However, it is worth noting some good news amid all of life’s stumbles, fumbles and conflicts – it appears that more and more people are surviving cancer, one of the most common and baleful of killers.

According to findings released by the American Association for Cancer Research last week, there were 13.7 million cancer survivors in the United States last year, a whole 2 million more than four years before. To put this in perspective, 1 in 23 Americans alive today has survived cancer; 40 years ago, that number stood at just 1 in 69. In just the last two decades, cancer death rates have declined by almost 25 percent for men and close to 16 percent for women.

Unfortunately, this silver lining does contain a cloud. The association reports that more Americans will develop cancers and die from them simply because we are living longer and not being claimed by other diseases or mishaps. This will, of course, place a tremendous strain on individuals, families, friends and health-care budgets. While the growing number of cancer survivors offers reason for optimism, the fact that more of us will receive the most dreadful of diagnoses makes the need for aggressive research and additional funding for it all the more imperative.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today