Is cancer on the rise, or does it just seem that way because doctors are able to diagnose it sooner?

Question

I can't turn around now-a-days without hearing of someone who has/had cancer (of some sort, at some stage).

I did a quick, not-so-scientific, experiment today - I asked 10 people if they could name AT LEAST 5 people they know personally who has/had cancer. The names had to be off the top of their heads, without any forethought... All 10 people could do it without any problems. It's quite depressing.

Answer 1

**** they need to find a cure  

Answer 2

I can name about 7 people I know of - I know only 4 of them personally.  it's crazy!!!  idk why there's so many people with cancer now.... I'm starring this - maybe you'll get a good answer.

Answer 3

Yes it's true, there are a lot of people who passed cancer in their live. I can repeat my doctors phrase, know all disease are treated except cancer, then she thought  few seconds and repeat that " and even cure cancer in early stage". They are a lot of drugs for treat cancer for example  Arimidex, Aromasin, Fareston, etc.

Who knows may be sometimes the cancer will be  something like flu.  

Answer 4

There are a number of reasons why cancer APPEARS to be more common these days.

The first, ironically, is better general health care; in the west at least, more people are living well into old age than ever before. Most cancers are associated with ageing, and the majority of those diagnosed with cancer are over 60, so - more old people = more cases of cancer.

With modern diagnostic techniques and screening., cancers that would not have been spotted in the past are now found through routine screening.

And of course we hear more about cancer these days in the media. When we didn't have TV, or the internet cancer didn't get as much coverage as it does now. And people are more open about cancer, more willing to talk about it. When my dad got cancer in the 1950s, his mother was really embarrassed because she associated cancer with dirt - I bet she didn't mention it to anybody she knew, as someone in her position would these days. In those days - and far more recently - many people mouthed the word cancer rather than say it out loud. Now people discuss it openly - so it appears it's more common.

But to take breast cancer as an example: breast cancer rates have not changed significantly in the last 20 years. But many, many people think rates have increased dramatically.

Cancer isn't new. The origin of the word cancer is credited to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.), - The world's oldest documented case of cancer is from ancient Egypt, in 1500 BC. The details were recorded on a papyrus, documenting 8 cases of tumours occurring on the breast.

Answer 5

I have found this from the National Cancer Institute (note this is not about Mortality):

"Based on rates from 2003-2005, 40.35% of men and women born today will be diagnosed with cancer of all sites at some time during their lifetime. This number can also be expressed as 1 in 2 men and women will be diagnosed with cancer of all sites during their lifetime. These statistics are called the lifetime risk of developing cancer."

And:

"Trends in incidence were adjusted for delayed reporting. Delay-adjust cancer incidence rates for all sites combined stabilized in men from 1993 to 2005 and increased in women by 0.3% per year from 1987 to 2003."

And:

"Statistics

Over recent decades, the incidence of cancer has escalated to epidemic proportions (1), now striking nearly one in two men (44%) and more than one in three women (39%). This increase translates into approximately 56% more cancer in men and 22% more cancer in women over the course of a single generation (2). As admitted by recent NCI and ACS estimates, the number of cancer cases will increase still further because of the growth and aging of the population, dramatically doubling by 2050 (3)."

And from Canada: "Cancer incidence is rising in young women ages 20-39."

For some types of cancer there is a decline, for other types there is an increase. But in general there is a increase of cancer cases in women.

Answer 6

both

Answer 7

Cancer isn't a new disease . . nor is there any increase in rates . . what you are noticing is an increase in SURVIVORS. Years ago there wasn't any effective treatment for cancer and people died from the disease. Cancer was always considered a 'death sentence' and people with advanced cancers were hidden away . . no one knew they existed . . and than they would die. In today's world there are better ways to detect cancer, more effective treatments, and people are surviving longer than they ever used to . . that is why you can name so many people with cancer. Not because there is more of it . . but because fewer people are dying now.

Of course, in my view . . even one person diagnosed with cancer is too many . . we need to totally eliminate this disease from this planet, if possible.