The overall cancer death rate in the United States continues to decline while the overall rate of newly diagnosed cases is essentially unchanged, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. The report includes data on cancer mortality and incidence from 1975 through 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

The trend of declining cancer death rates has occurred as physicians in community settings have increasingly adopted treatments recommended by leading cancer organizations and professional societies, according to the study. The researchers used data from NCI's SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) cancer registries and related resources to track treatments throughout the population over time.

But not all racial and ethnic groups have benefited equally from the progress. The researchers found disparities in the quality of care available in minority and underserved communities as compared with others. They also found different patterns of treatment for cancers, depending on geography.  Read more  

Last week brought with it an important change at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), with my appointment as interim commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by President Bush. And as I said at the time, I will maintain my position as NCI director and my ultimate commitment to the 2015 goal.

To ensure that the many ambitious initiatives and programs we have launched to reach that goal continue to progress, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has asked Dr. John Niederhuber, who recently came to NCI as deputy director for translational and clinical sciences, to serve as the NCI chief operating officer to handle much of the institute's day-to-day management.  Read more  

The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads the national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases. For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov. NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.