Transition From Heart Disease to Cancer as the Leading Cause of Death in the United States
Authors: Katherine G. Hastings, Kristopher Kapphahn, Derek B. Boothroyd, David H. Rehkopf, Mark R. Cullen, Latha Palaniappan
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)

Letters6 August 2019Transition From Heart Disease to Cancer as the Leading Cause of Death in the United StatesKatherine G. Hastings, MPH, Kristopher Kapphahn, MS, Derek B. Boothroyd, PhD, David H. Rehkopf, ScD, MPH, Mark R. Cullen, MD, and Latha Palaniappan, MD, MSKatherine G. Hastings, MPHStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (K.G.H., K.K., D.B.B., D.H.R., M.R.C., L.P.)Search for more papers by this author, Kristopher Kapphahn, MSStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (K.G.H., K.K., D.B.B., D.H.R., M.R.C., L.P.)Search for more papers by this author, Derek B. Boothroyd, PhDStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (K.G.H., K.K., D.B.B., D.H.R., M.R.C., L.P.)Search for more papers by this author, David H. Rehkopf, ScD, MPHStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (K.G.H., K.K., D.B.B., D.H.R., M.R.C., L.P.)Search for more papers by this author, Mark R. Cullen, MDStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (K.G.H., K.K., D.B.B., D.H.R., M.R.C., L.P.)Search for more papers by this author, and Latha Palaniappan, MD, MSStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (K.G.H., K.K., D.B.B., D.H.R., M.R.C., L.P.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L19-0203 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We thank Dr. Sidney and colleagues for their prior work on this topic (1), which showed that cancer mortality rates in women exceeded those for heart disease as early as 2010. Overall, their findings and others (2) suggest that heart disease mortality has dramatically decreased in the past decades compared with cancer mortality.The intention of our analysis was to describe how a leading cause of death in the United States may transition from heart disease to cancer across socioeconomic groups given the various drivers of social determinants of health in chronic disease mortality. We recognize that this ...References1. Sidney S, Quesenberry CP, Jaffe MG, et al. Recent trends in cardiovascular mortality in the United States and public health goals. JAMA Cardiol. 2016;1:594-9. [PMID: 27438477] doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2016.1326 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Weir HK, Anderson RN, ColemanKing SM, et al. Heart disease and cancer deaths–trends and projections in the United States, 1969-2020. Prev Chronic Dis. 2016;13:E157. [PMID: 27854420] doi:10.5888/pcd13.160211 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (K.G.H., K.K., D.B.B., D.H.R., M.R.C., L.P.)Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M17-0796. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoSocioeconomic Differences in the Epidemiologic Transition From Heart Disease to Cancer as the Leading Cause of Death in the United States, 2003 to 2015 Katherine G. Hastings , Derek B. Boothroyd , Kristopher Kapphahn , Jiaqi Hu , David H. Rehkopf , Mark R. Cullen , and Latha Palaniappan Transition From Heart Disease to Cancer as the Leading Cause of Death in the United States Stephen Sidney , Alan S. Go , and Jamal S. Rana Metrics Cited byRecent Developments on Semiconducting Polymer Nanoparticles as Smart Photo-Therapeutic Agents for Cancer Treatments—A Review 6 August 2019Volume 171, Issue 3Page: 225KeywordsCardiovascular therapyConflicts of interestDeath ratesDisclosureHeart diseasesInformation storage and retrievalMortalityPrevention, policy, and public health ePublished: 6 August 2019 Issue Published: 6 August 2019 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2019 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...