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Why Early Detection?

Early detection of cancer saves lives!

Cancer strikes about one in three women and one in two men in the U.S.1 and more than 565,650 die 2,3 from it each year. The best chance to reduce these numbers is through early detection and intervention. Over 1.4 million new cancer cases are expected in 2008.1,3 Survival rates improve dramatically when cancer is diagnosed early and the disease is confined to the organ of origin.

Graph - Relative 5-year survival correlated with stage of cancer diagnosis6

Chances of survival are greater if cancer is diagnosed when still confined to the organ of origin (stage I). Survival rates decline as tumors enlarge and spread regionally (stages II,III) or distantly (stage IV).

  • Early detection has proven value: since 1950, there has been a 70 percent decline in cervical-cancer incidence and deaths in developed countries5 thanks to a simple screening test, the Pap test.
  • Colon cancer caught early has a 90 percent 5-year survival rate, vs. an only 10 percent survival rate if it is caught late and has spread to other organs.3,6,7
  • Among the 20 percent of ovarian cancer cases diagnosed early when cancer is confined to the ovary, over 90 percent survive five years. Unfortunately, for the two-thirds diagnosed at a later stage, only 30 percent survive that long.3,6,7
  • Lung cancer is a major global killer, and most cases of newly diagnosed lung cancer patients have either never smoked or have quit smoking.8,9 Over 40 percent of new patients are diagnosed after the cancer has spread and only 3% of them will live for 5 years!1,7
  • Early detection is key in breast and prostate cancers. Five-year survival for breast- and prostate-cancer patients with early stage disease is 98 percent and 100 percent, respectively, and survival rates remain high at 10 years.3,6,7
  • For nearly all types of cancer, the 5-year relative survival is substantially lower if disease is caught at an advanced stage.3
  • The financial costs of cancer treatment can be an additional burden to people diagnosed with cancer, their families, and society. Cancer treatment accounted for a staggering $89 billion in the U.S. in 2007.10 In addition to saving lives, prevention and early detection have the potential to reduce that financial burden through the reduction of treatment costs.

Most cancer research focuses on treatments for late stage disease. Less than 15 percent of research funding goes to early detection11 even though early intervention is far more effective than late stage treatment. The greatest advances in cancer research can be obtained -- and more lives saved -- by reorienting research toward prevention and earlier detection.

Unfortunately, we cannot detect all cancers yet. Our current tests need to be more sensitive, more accurate, less invasive and more readily available. We need to devise more fundamental screening techniques that can accurately locate all forms of cancer even earlier.

New technologies have emerged that will allow scientists to discover new biological markers (biomarkers) that will form the basis for simple blood tests for early detection of cancer. Additionally, molecular imaging tests, such as PET (Positron Emission Tomography- body scanning technology) have targeted molecules that "light up" and identify the location of cancer. When cancer is identified and isolated in its earliest stages you can usually eradicate it.

Canary Foundation is investing in the research, the collaboration and the technologies it will take to quickly bring an accurate, reliable system of cancer testing - the equivalent of an $8 PAP smear - to just about everyone.

Citations

  1. Ries LAG, Melbert D, Krapcho M, Mariotto A, Miller BA, Feuer EJ, Clegg L, Horner MJ, Howlader N, Eisner MP, Reichman M, Edwards BK (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2004, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2004/, based on November 2006 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, 2007.
  2. U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 2004 Incidence and Mortality. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute, 2007.
  3. Cancer Facts & Figures 2008. American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, 2008.
  4. Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Murray T, Xu J, Thun MJ, 2007. Cancer statistics, 2007. CA Cancer J Clin 57:43-66.
  5. Spinney L, 2006. Cancer: Caught in time. Nature 442:736-738.
  6. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, 1975-2003; Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 2006.
  7. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/
  8. Mulshine JL, 2003. Screening for lung cancer: in pursuit of pre-metastatic disease. Nat Rev Cancer 3:65-73.
  9. Tong L, Spitz MR, Fueger JJ, Amos CA, 1996. Lung carcinoma in former smokers. Cancer 78:1004-10.
  10. Direct and Indirect Economic Costs of Illness by Major Diagnosis, U.S., 2007. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Factbook, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/factbook/chapter4.htm
  11. Curry SJ, Byers T, Hewitt M (eds). Fulfilling the Potential for Cancer Prevention and Early Detection, National Research Council, 2003.