Download 589,430 290,200 (49.2%) - Deadliest Cancers Coalition

Established in 2008, the Deadliest Cancers Coalition is a collaboration of national non-profit organizations focused on
addressing policy issues related to the nation’s most deadly, or recalcitrant, cancers. The Recalcitrant Cancer Research
Act of 2012 defines these cancers as those with a five-year relative survival rate below 50 percent. The overall five-year
relative survival rate for all cancers was approximately 50 percent back in 1971, when the “War on Cancer” was declared,
and it has now risen to 68 percent. While there are various types of cancers that fall under the “recalcitrant” definition, it is
worth noting that nearly half of the 589,430 cancer deaths expected in 2015 will be caused by eight of the deadliest sitespecific cancers: pancreas, lung, liver, esophagus, stomach, brain, ovary and myeloma.1
2015 EST. CANCER DEATHS
MOST COMMON CANCERS: 2015 CASES, DEATHS
AND FIVE-YEAR RELATIVE SURVIVAL RATES1
589,430
8 DEADLIEST SITE-SPECIFIC
CANCERS COMBINED
290,200 (49.2%)
2015
Est. Cases
2015
Est. Deaths
Five-Year Relative
Survival Rate
48,960
40,560
7%
221,200
158,040
17%
Liver & intrahepatic
bile duct
35,660
24,550
17%
Esophagus
16,980
15,590
18%
Stomach
24,590
10,720
28%
Brain and CNS
22,850
15,320
35%
Ovary
21,290
14,180
45%
Myeloma
26,850
11,240
47%
Leukemia
54,270
24,450
60%
132,700
49,700
65%
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
71,850
19,790
71%
Kidney
61,560
14,080
72%
Urinary Bladder
74,000
16,000
77%
Uterine Corpus
54,870
10,170
82%
234,190
40,730
89%
73,870
9,940
91%
220,800
27,540
99%
Pancreas
Lung
Colon and Rectum
ALL OTHER CANCERS COMBINED
299,230 (50.8%)
Breast
Melanoma of the Skin
Prostate
The impact that these cancers are having on Americans is staggering and is intensified by the fact that there are
significant gaps in our ability to help those diagnosed with these diseases. Lung cancer accounts for more deaths than any
other cancer in both men and women.1 Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women
and is the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers.1 Although the incidence rates of stomach cancer have declined overall,
studies indicate that the incidence of some forms of stomach cancer are significantly increasing for whites aged 25-59.2,3
Brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancer is the second most common pediatric site-specific cancer type in children
and adolescents diagnosed at ages 0-19 and is the leading cause of cancer-related death in that same age group.4
deadliestcancers.org
While overall cancer incidence trends are declining, the rates at which three of the recalcitrant cancers (pancreatic, liver
and myeloma) have been diagnosed increased significantly between 1992 and 2010.5 In more recent years, the incidence of
esophageal cancer in women has risen as well.6 And unfortunately, the long-term trends for death rates have also increased
for both pancreatic and liver cancers.5
A 2014 study published in Cancer Research projected that pancreatic cancer will surpass breast and colorectal cancer to
become the second leading cause of cancer-related death around 2020. Liver cancer will replace prostate cancer as the
fifth leading cause of cancer-related death by 2020. The authors also projected that by 2030, the top five cancer killers in
the United States will be lung, pancreatic, liver, colorectal and breast – a significant shift from the current ranking of lung,
colorectal, breast, pancreatic and prostate.7 The projected rise of pancreatic and liver cancers in the rankings of leading
cancer killers underscores the need for greater federal research investment to prevent these projections from coming true.
PROJECTED CANCER-RELATED DEATHS7
160,000
Lung
140,000
80,000
Pancreas
60,000
Liver
Colon and Rectum
40,000
Breast
Prostate
20,000
0
2010
2020
2030
The Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act calls on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop “scientific frameworks,” or
strategic plans, to advance research on the deadliest cancers, first for pancreatic and lung cancers, with other recalcitrant
cancers added at its discretion. As required by the Act, the NCI has released a scientific framework report outlining
priority areas of research focus for pancreatic cancer, as well as a similar report for small-cell lung cancer. These reports
demonstrate the vast potential for progress in diseases that are currently feared as some of the nation’s leading killers.
The Deadliest Cancers Coalition strongly supports the use of this scientific framework model in developing reports for
other deadly cancers.
Unfortunately, the promise of research into the deadliest cancers is being severely undercut by the steady erosion of
funding for the NCI. The Deadliest Cancers Coalition calls on Congress to consider the special challenges associated with
the deadliest cancers and provide the NCI with the meaningful increase necessary to advance innovative research and
build a better understanding of individualized disease – a critical first step toward the development of precision medicine
strategies that may provide personalized treatment options for patients, which could be an essential tool in fighting the
deadliest cancers.
1. Cancer Facts & Figures 2015. (Atlanta GA, USA, 2015).
2. Anderson, W. F. et al. Age-specific trends in incidence of noncardia gastric cancer in US adults. Jama 303, 1723-1728, doi:10.1001/jama.2010.496 (2010).
3. Camargo, M. C. et al. Divergent trends for gastric cancer incidence by anatomical subsite in US adults. Gut 60, 1644-1649, doi:10.1136/gut.2010.236737 (2011).
4. Cancer Facts & Figures 2014. (Atlanta GA, USA, 2014).
5. Edwards, B. K. et al. Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2010, featuring prevalence of comorbidity and impact on survival among persons with lung, colorectal, breast, or prostate
cancer. Cancer 120, 1290-1314, doi:10.1002/cncr.28509 (2014).
6. Siegel, R. L., Miller, K. D. & Jemal, A. Cancer statistics, 2015. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 65, 5-29, doi:10.3322/caac.21254 (2015).
7. Rahib, L. et al. Projecting cancer incidence and deaths to 2030: the unexpected burden of thyroid, liver, and pancreas cancers in the United States. Cancer Research 74, 2913-2921, doi:10.1158/00085472.can-14-0155 (2014).
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