AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH 13
prostate cancer are 89 percent and 99 percent, respectively,
while those for U.S. adults with liver or pancreatic cancer
are just 17 percent and 7 percent, respectively ( 3).
Another challenge is that advances have not been uniform
for all patients diagnosed with a given form of cancer. Five-year relative survival rates vary with stage at diagnosis and
among different segments of the population (see sidebar on
What Are Cancer Health Disparities?, p. 15 and the sidebar
on U.S. Cancer Health Disparities, p. 16).
Of concern is the fact that the devastating toll of cancer is
predicted to increase significantly unless more effective
strategies for cancer prevention, early detection, and
treatment are developed. This is largely because cancer is
primarily a disease of aging ( 9), and the segment of the world
population age 65 and older is expected to almost double by
2035, rising from 616 million in 2015 to 1.157 billion in 2035
( 15). During this period, the number of global cancer cases
is anticipated to increase dramatically, reaching 24 million
in 2035 ( 8). Also contributing to the projected increase in
the number of cancer cases are high rates of tobacco use,
obesity, infection, and physical inactivity, which are linked
to some common types of cancer ( 6).
The United States is not immune to the rising burden
of cancer (see sidebar on The Growing Public Health
Challenge of Cancer in the United States, p. 17). Thus,
it is imperative that we work with the global biomedical
research community to address cancer incidence and
mortality and power more progress against cancer.
Stage at diagnosis can affect
5-year relative survival ( 9):
Kidney and renal
Melanoma: pelvis cancer:
92%
overall
98%
local
63%
regional
17%
distant
74%
overall
93%
local
66%
regional
12%
distant
55%
of U.S. cancer
diagnoses occur
among those age
65 or older ( 9).
