...........News and Numbers: Lung cancer rates dropping
but hospitalization rates remain constant >>

Why You Should Know About Melanoma

....Melanoma is the most serious of the common type of skin cancer. The good news is that most melanomas can be found early and treated successfully. This brochure describes risk factors for this type of skin cancer, and important tips for finding it early.(PDF)

by The American Cancer Society

Colorectal cancer screening saves lives.

..If everyone aged 50 years old or older were screened regularly, up to 60% of deaths from this cancer could be avoided. >> CDC

Prevention the Focus of New Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines

News and Numbers:

Lung cancer rates dropping

but hospitalization rates remain constant

.....Hospital admissions for lung cancer remained relatively stable – at roughly 150,000 a year between 1995 and 2006 – despite a steady decline in the number of Americans diagnosed with the disease, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

.....Admissions have remained constant, in part, because lung cancer patients are surviving longer and undergoing more hospital-related treatments such as chemotherapy and tumor-removal surgery, according to AHRQ experts. Smoking is considered a main cause of lung cancer – the most deadly type of cancer – but the disease can also result from exposure to hazardous substances such as asbestos, radon, pollution or second-hand smoke, as well as genetic predisposition to the disease.

...AHRQ’s analysis also found that:

.....The average hospital cost for a lung cancer patient in 2006 was $14,200 (about $1,900 a day). The total cost for all patients was about $2.1 billion.

.....The death rate of hospitalized lung cancer patients was 13 percent – five times higher than the average overall death rate (2.6 percent) for hospitalized patients.
Only 2.4 percent of hospitalized lung cancer patients in 2006 were younger than 44. About 63 percent were 65 or older.

.....Hospitalizations for lung cancer were far more common in the South (89 admissions per 100,000 persons) than in the Northeast (25 admissions per 100,000 persons).
This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data from Hospital Stays for Lung Cancer, 2006 (HCUP Statistical Brief # 63).

For more information, or to speak with an AHRQ data expert, contact Bob Isquith at Bob.Isquith@ahrq.hhs.gov, (301) 427-1539.

To learn more about Lung Cancer, please visit: www.lungusa.org

More information about Radon and Asbestos, at www.epa.gov

For information about Cancer, call the American Cancer Society at 1-800- ACS-2345 or visit their Web site at www.cancer.org

Salud+HealthInfo is for information and educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for personal medical attention, diagnosis or hands-on treatment. If you are concerned abut your health or that of a child, please consult your family's physician or health provider immediately and do not try to diagnose yourself.

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