Survival Rates for Cancer Are Increasing and so is the Need for Critical Illness Insurance

The Globe and Mail reports that the death rate for cancer has fallen dramatically over the past generation.

According to new data from the Canadian Cancer Society, Cancer deaths have dropped 21 per cent in men and 9 per cent in women between 1988 and 2007. In men, that means fewer are dying when it comes to the top four cancer killers of lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. For women, the story is similar, with one major difference: colorectal, breast, and pancreatic have all gone down, but lung cancer deaths have skyrocketed over the past few years. Thankfully, though, even those have stabilized when it comes to the bigger picture.

So why has the cancer death rate gone into decline? The Cancer Society attributes the falling number to fewer people smoking, improved treatments, and earlier detection. At the moment, slightly more men than women (52 per cent versus 48 per cent) die of cancer, but the gender gap is closing. In the past, more men than women smoked, but now young women are more likely to become new smokers and fewer men are smoking than ever.