Practically Six Million Most cancers Deaths Prevented As a consequence of Prevention, Screenings –

by Mitti Hicks

December 20, 2024

When it comes to surviving a cancer diagnosis, early detection is key to increasing your chances of survival.

When it comes to surviving a cancer diagnosis, early detection is key to increasing your chances of survival.

As doctors and researchers continue to push people early cancer screenings, a study by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute, shows improvements in cancer screenings have dramatically decreased deaths from the five common cancers compared to advancements in treatments.

The five most common cancer types are breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate.

Researchers analyzed data between 1975 and 2020, using the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) and cancer mortality data to examine death rates and screenings from the most common five.

Nearly six million deaths were prevented, according to researchers.

“Although many people may believe that treatment advances are the major driver of reductions in mortality from these five cancers combined, the surprise here is how much prevention and screening contribute to reductions in mortality,” said co-lead investigator Katrina A. B. Goddard, Ph.D., director of NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. “Eight out of 10 deaths from these five cancers that were averted over the past 45 years were due to advances in prevention and screening.”

Preventing Cancer

Even with the increase in screenings, researchers point out that the best way to reduce cancer death rates is by combining effective strategies in prevention and screenings with advances in treatment.

“This study will help us understand which strategies have been most effective in reducing cancer deaths so that we can continue building on this momentum and hopefully increase the use of these strategies across the United States,” said W. Kimryn Rathmell, M.D., Ph.D., director of NCI.

According to the study, contributions of prevention, screening, and treatment helped to avert deaths for the following cancer types:

Breast cancer: 250,000 deaths

Lung cancer: 3,381,000 deaths

Cervical cancer: 160,000 deaths

Colorectal cancer: 743,000 deaths

Prostate cancer: 201,600

“These findings suggest that we need to continue to have strong strategies and approaches in these areas,” Goddard noted. “It’s not just treatment advances alone, or prevention and screening alone, that is helping us to reduce cancer mortality.”

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