Dr. Madhavi Gorusu, M.D,MBA.

Prevention is better than Cure-Spot light on Asian Americans

Major cancer types: Lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer

u Lung cancer death rates declined :

u 48% from 1990 to 2016 among men and 23% from 2002 to 2016 among women.

u From 2011 to 2015, the rates of new lung cancer cases dropped by 3% per year in men and 1.5% per year in women.

u The differences reflect historical patterns in tobacco use,

Major cancer types: Lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer

u Breast cancer death rates declined 40% from 1989 to 2016 among women. The progress is attributed to improvements in early detection.

u Prostate cancer death rates declined 51% from 1993 to 2016 among men.

Major cancer types: Lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer

u Colorectal cancer death rates declined 53% from 1970 to 2016 among men and women because of increased screening and improvements in treatment.

u However, in adults younger than age 55, new cases of colorectal cancer have increased almost 2% per year since the mid-1990s.

Stats

u An estimated 1,762,450 cancers will be in diagnosed in 2019, which equals more than 4,800 new cases each day.

u The lifetime probability of being diagnosed with cancer is 39.3% for men and 37.7% for women, which is a little more than 1 in 3.

u 22% of deaths in the US in 2016 were from cancer, making it the second leading cause of death after heart disease in both men and women.

u Rates of new liver cancers are rising faster than for any other cancer. People infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are at greater risk for liver cancer. All baby boomers (those born between 1945 and 1965) are recommended to be tested for HCV because 75% of HCV-infected people are in this age group. Other risk factors for liver cancer include obesity, heavy drinking, and smoking.

u Rates of new cases also rose for melanoma skin cancer, thyroid cancer, endometrial cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

How are Asian Americans coming along..?

u Asian Americans have experienced steadily increasing breast cancer rates over the past 15 years.(Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. Gomez et al.April 2017.).

u All Asian Americans groups, with the exception of Japanese, experienced an overall incidence increase. The largest increase was observed among Koreans, South Asians, and Southeast Asians.

u Increasing trends of late-stage disease, particularly among Filipino, Korean, and South Asian women, suggest a need for higher rates of mammography screening in these populations.

u Risk factors, perhaps early-life exposures, possible genetic susceptibility.

Lung Cancer Risks for Non-smokers

u As many as 20% of people who die from lung cancer in the United States every year have never smoked or used any other form of tobacco. This translates to about 30,000 Americans in 2018. In fact, if lung cancer in non-smokers had its own separate category, it would rank among the top 10 fatal cancers in the United States.

u staying away from tobacco

u Radon gas

u Secondhand smoke.

u Cancer-causing agents at work.

u Air pollution

u Gene mutations