Record drop in cancer death rates

COVID-19 is a concern to the number in cancer death declines

According to the American Cancer Society, the death rate from cancer declined 2.4% among Americans from 2017 to 2018.

Rebecca siegel, cancer epidemiologist, stated that this substantial drop has not been seen in the last twenty-seven years. "More than three million deaths have been adverted over those twenty-seven years," according to the american cancer society's annual report. Siegel says this is the result of fewer people smoking, advancements on treatments and earlier detections. Yet, there are new concerns arise on cancer rates and deaths due to the impact of covid-19.

Siegel stated that they are expecting to experience a secondary impact of the pandemic over the next decade in terms of cancer rates." she continued by emphasizing the importance of cancer screenings despite the pandemic.

The epidemiologist said there is still work to be done, referring to her example of lung cancer. "There's still a lot of opportunity because even though we're making progress right now, lung cancer still causes more deaths than breast, prostate and colorectal cancers combined and more than 80% of those deaths are related to smoking," said Siegel.