Fewer Dying From Mouth And Throat Cancers

U.S. death rates for throat and mouth cancers has decreased according to new national data. According to research and a study of analysis by the National Center for Health Statistics, the largest decreases in death rates for mouth and throat pharynx) cancers were among black patients with at least 12 years of education.
Researchers studied data on both white and black men and women residing in 26 states. The data was based on individuals between the ages of 25 and 64. Death rates increased among white men with fewer than 12 years of education, according the American Cancer Society and researchers participating in the study. A second study found that poor overall quality of life, pain and continued tobacco use seem to be associated with poorer outcomes and a higher death rate two years after diagnosis for patients with head and neck cancer.

This national study included 276 patients diagnosed between September 2001 and September 2008. The overall survival rate two years after diagnosis was 90.8 percent.
The likelihood of death within two years of diagnosis was: four times higher for those who reported low quality of life than for those who reported a high quality of life; four times higher for those who continued to use tobacco than for those who had quit or never used tobacco; and two times higher for those who reported pain than for those who said they had no pain.

“Americans are surviving dreaded diseases like cancer and hearty attack,” explains Jesse Slome executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance and the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance “Survival comes with a steep price that often includes bankruptcy and cancer remains one of the leading causes for long term care insurance claims.”