Editor’s note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a report on lung cancer incidence trends in the United States.1 According to the report, incidence rates for lung cancer have decreased between 2005 and 2009, the period evaluated. Lung cancer incidence has decreased in all men, except those younger than 35 years. The decreased incidence in women was seen in those aged 35 to 44 years and 54 to 64 years. The most rapid decrease in lung cancer incidence was seen in the population aged 35 to 44, where lung cancer incidence decreased 6.5% among men and 5.8% among women. More information is available at www.cdc.gov/mmwr. ASCO President
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, commented on the report as follows:
“Eliminating tobacco use is the most important thing we can do to prevent lung and other cancers, as well as the many other diseases its use causes. [Recent] news confirms that we are making progress. However, the global health challenges from tobacco are still growing.
“This new CDC report1 shows how far we’ve come in the United States as we approach the 50th anniversaries of both the Surgeon General’s first report on tobacco and ASCO’s founding. Having shown that we can make substantial progress, we must continue to do everything possible to expand tobacco control programs in the United States and especially overseas, where tobacco use is taking an even greater toll.
“ASCO believes it is our responsibility as cancer doctors to help our patients quit and oppose tobacco use in all its forms. We are deeply committed to proactive tobacco control globally and have set an aggressive agenda for slashing tobacco use, deploying every public health, policy, and legal approach available.” ■
—Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP
Reference
1. Henley JS, Richards TB, Underwood MJ, et al: Lung cancer incidence trends among men and women: United States, 2005–2009. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 63:1-5, 2014.
