Well, that many Americans really are dying every day, but from cancer, not from ill-fated collisions with icebergs, according to new statistics released today. Cancer researchers found that the equivalent of 12 jumbo jets full of Americans die every week from lung cancer alone. These comparisons may be a bit on the melodramatic side, but as study author Dr. Vivienne Chen notes, the figures must be put into perspective so people will realize how widespread the disease really is. Chen is director of the Lousiana Tumor Registry at Louisiana State University. Canadian Cousins Similar The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries study, which accumulated data from 1990 to 1994, found that the incidence of cancer in Canada was similar to that of the United States.
Prostate cancer is the standout among U.S. and Canadian men.
That's not surprising, considering that the general health status of the two countries is so similar. The top three cancers in children were leukemia, central nervous system tumors and lymphomas. Although the new analysis didn't turn up any big cancer data surprises, Chen says many of her colleagues worry that it shows we aren't putting our government funds in the right place. Meanwhile, cancer kills 2.6 million Americans a year, and the federally funded research budget is maybe twice that amount. We need more research if we ever want to reduce these deaths.