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CANCER
In 2002, an estimated 267,300 females died of cancer
in the U.S. Of these, it was estimated that lung/bronchus
cancer
caused 25 percent of cancer deaths, followed by breast
cancer (15 percent) and cancer of the colon and rectum
(11 percent).
Cancer rates are tracked by the National
Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End
Results (SEER) Program,
which obtains data from 11 population-based registries
and three supplemental registries covering approximately
14 percent
of the U.S. population.1 According
to SEER data from 1992-1999, the rate of new cases of
lung/bronchus
cancer
in females
has remained stable from 48.7 cases per 100,000 population
in 1992 to 48.2 in 1999. In 1999, Black and White women
had the highest incidence rates of lung/bronchus cancer
(55.7
and 49.9, respectively), with incidence rates that were
at least twice those of Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic
women. American Indian/Alaska Native women had the lowest
cancer incidence rates; however, cancer remains the second
leading cause of death among American Indian/Alaska Native
women.2
 [d]
 [d]
1In
2001, the registries were expanded to cover 26 percent
of the population. [Back]
2National
Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 49, No. 11, October 12, 2001. [Back]
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