Cancer Rate to Double
A new report claims that the number of cancer cases in this country may double by the middle of the century. As an estimated 1.3 million Americans are currently diagnosed with cancer each year, that figure could grow to 2.6 million by the year 2050, according to the report in the journal Cancer.
The number of cases among people aged 75 and up could triple, from 389,000
in 2000 to more than 1.1 million, the report estimates. “Among even older Americans
the increased caseload could be more dramatic: a fourfold jump for those 85
and over during the next four-odd decades,” reports HealthScoutNews.
The number of people older than 65 is expected to double by 2050, to 80 million,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Martin Brown, an NCI researcher who studies the economic burden of cancer,
has estimated that treatment of the disease and other expenses ran to nearly
$157 billion in 2001.
Moderator Comment: How will increased cancer rates
affect the role of pharmacists? What are the broader implications for retail
from a whole health program standpoint?
An increase in cancer cases has enormous implications
for the health care system in the United States. Pharmacists and store associates
are likely to encounter questions from consumers on everything from the efficacy
of a shark cartilage product to the effects of chemotherapy. [George
Anderson – Moderator]