The State Health Registry of Iowa has been recording the occurrence of cancer in Iowa since 1973 and is one of 14 population-based registries nationwide providing data to the National Cancer Institute.
This year the registry estimates that there will be 16,000 new cases of cancer reported and 6,300 Iowans will die from their cancer in Iowa.. Charles Lynch, MD, PhD, medical director of the State Health Registry, a professor, and epidemiologist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about cancer in Iowa:
Is the number of new cases or deaths due to cancer on the rise in Iowa?
The number of new cases remains pretty much stable at this time. The number of deaths is stable, also, but if you look at age-adjusted rates for death, they're actually slightly declining in the state of Iowa.
Who is most likely to develop cancer in Iowa?
People over the age of 50 are the most likely to develop cancer. Eighty percent of cancers occur in people over age 50 and there's slightly more men than women who are diagnosed with the disease.
What types of cancer are most deadly in Iowa?
By far and away, the most deadly cancer is lung cancer. It accounts for three of every 10 cancer deaths. Number two is colorectal cancer; number three is breast cancer; number four is prostate cancer. Prostate cancer mortality is declining and if that continues, pancreatic cancer will become the number four cause of cancer death in Iowa.
Compared to other states, how does Iowa rank nationally with reported cases of cancer and deaths from cancer?
We're in the middle of the pack if you look at recent data available on the net. www.statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov We're actually the 20th lowest state in terms of cancer mortality and the 31st lowest in terms of incidence.
Where does cancer rank as a cause of death in Iowa?
Right now cancer is a close second to heart disease as a cause of death, but given the curves for these age-adjusted rates over the last several decades, cancer has a lower slope and not as steep as for heart disease. Probably later in this decade, cancer will become the number one cause of death in Iowa.
What would you recommend as the number one preventive measure Iowans can take to decrease their chance of developing cancer?
The number one preventive measure Iowans can take to decrease their chance of developing cancer is smoking cessation.
Is The University of Iowa involved in any research with regard to decreasing cancer in Iowa?
Yes, the University has several researchers looking at various aspects of decreasing cancer in Iowa. This would include etiologic studies where we're trying to identify new risk factors for cancer. It would also include primary prevention studies. An example of that would be assisting people in quitting smoking. And then a third way to decrease cancer in Iowa is to promote screening and early detection of the disease among the population. Tthere are University of Iowa researchers involved with this aspect of research, as well.
Is there hope that someday cancer will be curable?
Well, that's kind of a tricky question in the sense that cancer is actually several diseases. They all share the common characteristic of a cell exhibiting uncontrolled cell death, but for some types of cancer, we already can cure the disease. We have more than 10 million Americans living today with a cancer diagnosis.
Many of those will be cured of their disease—it will not recur for them. The secret there—and the thing that needs to be done, in general—is to detect the disease early in its course. Then we have much more effective therapies and we can talk about curing people of the disease. |
