Science / Medicine : 343,000 Years of Life Saved
The United States currently is saving 343,000 years of life annually, compared to 1950, but continued smoking and unhealthy life styles are jeopardizing the effort, researchers said.
It appears unlikely that the U.S. will achieve its 1980 goal of cutting cancer deaths in half by the year 2000, at least in part because the public has not embraced healthier life styles known to reduce cancer risk, two UCLA scientists reported.
Dr. Lester Breslow and William Cumberland, writing in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., urged the National Cancer Institute to redouble cancer prevention efforts, which they called “the most neglected element” of government cancer control programs.
“The NCI is by no means a failure,” Breslow said. “But I think they know there are important opportunities out there which have been missed, both in public education and in research into how we can prevent cancers from occurring.”
Dr. Peter Greenwald, director of the National Cancer Institute’s cancer prevention and control program, said the federal agency is doing the best it can.
“As far as prevention goes, this is a partnership we have with the public,” he said. “We can provide the leadership, but they need to take advantage of what we know about healthy life styles.”
In evaluating progress against cancer since 1950, Breslow and Cumberland noted that vast advances have been made in detecting and treating cancers in children and younger adults, resulting in cancer death reductions of 25% to 65% in various age groups.
