Prevention, screening still keys to reducing cancer burden

Cancer experts Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH, director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Zhen-Qiang (Marshall) Ma, MD, MPH, MS, division director of community epidemiology at the Pennsylvania Department of Health recently created a collection of articles for the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

In an introduction to the collection, they note that cancer deaths have been on the decline, but incidence is rising and so are the costs for treatment. As a nation we are still burdened by cancer.

Prevention is still they key.

“About 30% to 50% of cancers diagnosed today could be prevented by reducing exposure to tobacco smoke and other environmental carcinogens, maintaining healthy body weight, and receiving recommended cancer screenings and vaccinations,” Richardson and Ma note.

The articles that follow present research on cancer screening disparities and trends, and practices that may help to improve screening rates. Read more here.