A new report estimates that there will be 137,910 new cases of cancer among African Americans in 2005, and 63,110 cancer deaths. The overall death rate from all cancers combined declined by 1.6 percent among African Americans each year between 1993 and 2001, which is greater than the 1 percent yearly decline seen among whites in the same period.

However, lung cancer rates are 47% higher among African-American men than white men. The death rate from lung cancer is 36% higher than for white men. Lung cancer is expected to claim 15,500 lives among African Americans in 2005.

Colon cancer rates are also higher among African Americans than whites. Colon cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer death among African-American men and women. It is expected to kill about 7,080 African Americans in 2005.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among African-American women, and the second leading cause of cancer death. About 19,240 new cases are expected this year. Breast cancer is actually less common among African-American women than white women, except in the case of women under 40. But African-American women are more likely to die from it. About 5,640 black women are expected to die of breast cancer this year.

Prostate cancer rates are 60% higher in African-American men than white men and death rates are nearly two-and-a-half times higher. About 30,770 prostate cancer cases and 5,050 deaths are expected in 2005.

The study compared the health status of 10,397 survivors of childhood cancers diagnosed and treated between 1970 and 1986, with the health status of more than 3,034 healthy siblings. It found that survivors of Hodgkin’s lymphoma are 4.4 times more likely to have more than two serious medical conditions – such as a second malignant neoplasm, myocardial infarction (heart attack), coronary artery bypass surgery, heart transplant, end-stage kidney disease, or paralysis – than cancer-free siblings. Chest radiation and anthracycline-based chemotherapy treatments carried the highest risk for long-term complications.

The median survival rate for childhood cancers in the United States is almost at 80%, but at least two-thirds of childhood cancer survivors develop chronic health conditions associated with cancer treatment and a third have serious, life-threatening conditions.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation says that over 232,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005, and 30,000 men will die from it. It is estimated that there are over 2 million American men currently living with prostate cancer.

In the United States, one new case of prostate cancer occurs every 2.5 minutes and a man dies from the disease every 17 minutes. The chance of developing prostate cancer increases rapidly after age 50. More than 70 percent of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause (next to lung cancer) of cancer-related deaths among men in the U.S. African-American men are 65 percent more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than Caucasian-Americans and are more than twice as likely to die from it.

However, because prostate cancer is a relatively slow-growing cancer, the 5-year survival rate for prostate cancer diagnosed at all stages is 98%. The 10-year survival rate is 84% and the 15-year survival rate is 56%.

The prostate is part of the male reproductive system and is located just below the bladder. The function of the prostate is to produce some of the fluid for semen which transports sperm.

A large study of Canadians diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 1997 found that eating more fresh fruit and cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, was associated with a lower risk of pancreatic cancer. However, the relationship between the two was confined to men. There was no clear association between diet and pancreatic cancer risk among women.

Among cancers, pancreatic tumors have one of the lowest survival rates, with less than five percent of patients living for five years after being diagnosed. This is mainly because the disease is rarely caught early.