Cancer research has also made dramatic improvements in adult cancer. Mortality for testicular cancer, for example, has declined 66 percent since 1973. Hodgkin's disease, which can strike young adults, was once one of the most feared cancers. Today, the majority of Hodgkin's disease patients can be successfully treated, and most are cured. Mortality is falling for cancers of the colon and rectum, breast, and prostate and gynecologic cancers in women and lung cancer in men.
Much work remains to be done.
Death rates for some cancers, notably lung cancer in women and lymphatic cancers in both men and women, continue to rise. And the burden of cancer is not shared equally in our society. For example, African Americans have a 30 percent higher cancer death rate than Caucasians. Most importantly, research has identified some of the genes that enable cancer's growth and other genes that prevent the growth of cancer cells. This crucial information offers scientists unparalleled opportunities to find new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer.