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This Progress Report on Cancer Control in Canada shows that there have been substantial changes in cancer control over the past several decades.
In many areas, significant progress has been made. Taken as a whole, mortality rates for all cancers combined have declined among both men and women since the late 1980s, primarily as a result of decreasing mortality rates from breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. Changes in diet are believed to at least partly explain declines in colorectal cancer, while, in general terms, people with cancer are surviving longer as a result of early detection and improved treatments.
Perhaps the most important progress has been the falling prevalence of cigarette smoking. This has led to declining lung cancer rates in males, and it is anticipated that similar declines for females will be observed within the next decade. Progress in this and other areas is attributable in large part to effective cancer prevention initiatives. Recent genetic research holds promise for better treatments in the future.
Despite these successes, Canada faces significant challenges in cancer control. Although there is much that we do not know about the causes of cancer, there is much that we do know but are failing to apply.
While incidence rates for some cancers in Canada are falling, the absolute numbers of new cases requiring treatment is increasing by approximately 3% per year due to the growth and aging of the Canadian population. This demographic trend will accelerate over the next decade, placing a heavy demand on Canada’s cancer control system. Future cancer control initiatives must therefore address the need for increased treatment capacity and better integration of palliative care programs across the country.
Improved efforts in cancer prevention are critical to future success in cancer control. Federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments, along with non-governmental organizations across society, are taking the prevention message to Canadians through a broad population health approach, stressing healthy lifestyles as the best means of preventing cancer and other chronic diseases. Work must continue to ensure that disease prevention and health promotion become ingrained as basic societal values.
On a larger scale, by means of the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control, there is a movement to better integrate cancer control activities through both national and provincial cancer control planning. Efforts are also being made to develop more coherent approaches that incorporate improved surveillance and the identification and implementation of best practices in prevention and control.
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