| HEALTH STATUS - Morbidity |
42 |
In 2001, approximately 267,300 women died of cancer in the U.S. Representing a quarter of all female cancer deaths, lung/bronchus cancer was the leading cause of cancer mortality, followed by breast cancer (15 percent) and cancer of the colon and rectum (11 percent). The lung cancer and colorectal death rates for women (41.5 and 18.2 per 100,000 population, respectively) were considerably lower than for men (79.9 and 25.4 per 100,000 population, respectively).
Cancer rates are tracked by the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, which obtains data from 11 population-based registries and three supplemental registries covering approximately 14 percent of the U.S. population. According to SEER data from 1992-1998, the rate of new cases of lung/bronchus cancer decreased slightly in females from 42 cases per 100,000 population in 1992 to 41.2 in 1998. In 1998, Black and White women displayed the highest incidence rates of lung/bronchus cancer (46.7 and 42.8, respectively), with incidence rates that were at least twice those of Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic women. American Indian/Alaska Native women had the lowest cancer incidence rates; however, cancer remains the second leading cause of death among American Indian/Alaska Native women.(1) Although the rate of new lung cancer cases in U.S. women has declined, it is still the leading cause of cancer death among females.
1 - National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 49, No. 11, October 12, 2001.
