Cancer Sourcebook

Basic Consumer Health Information about Major Forms and Stages of Cancer, Featuring Facts about Head and Neck Cancers, Lung Cancers, Gastrointestinal Cancers, Genitourinary Cancers, Lymphomas, Blood Cell Cancers, Endocrine Cancers, Skin Cancers, Bone Cancers, Metastatic Cancers, and More

In recent years, major advances have been made in the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. The result has been declining death rates for the four most common cancers, as well as for all cancers combined. In fact, between the years 1993 and 2002, cancer death rates dropped 1.1 percent per year. In addition, the numbers of new cancer cases have been relatively stable since the 1990s.

In announcing the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2002, which was published in the fall of 2005, Julie Gerberding, M.D., Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed, "Day by day we are winning the war against cancer as more people than ever before are being screened and are receiving treatments necessary for them to lead healthy and productive lives."

While cancer research has yielded significant progress, much work remains to be done. Cancer is still the second leading cause of death among Americans, surpassed only by heart disease. Incidence rates for some types of cancer—including breast cancer and lung cancer in women, cancers of the prostate and testes in men, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, melanoma, and cancers of the thyroid, kidney, and esophagus—are rising. Costs associated with cancer treatment continue to escalate, and racial and socioeconomic disparities in cancer rates and deaths remain unexplained.

Cancer Sourcebook, Fifth Edition provides updated information to help readers understand cancer risk factors, cancer prevention efforts, and the ongoing effort to develop better treatments. It offers descriptions of the major forms and stages of cancers affecting specific organs and the respiratory, nervous, lymphatic, circulatory, skeletal, gastrointestinal, and reproductive systems. It also describes special concerns related to metastatic, recurrent, and advanced cancers. A glossary of cancer terms and directories of organizations able to provide additional information are also included.