Lung cancer claims more lives in smokey South Jersey | Cancer Kick

Tobacco use is a smoking gun, robbing many in South Jersey of their heath and economic well-being.

Meanwhile, the state spends on smoking prevention less than 1 percent of the almost $1 billion in tobacco revenue it takes in each year.

Those are major findings of a first-ever report issued Tuesday by the American Cancer Society in Trenton.

?Our analysis shows a ?tale of two states,? ? Blair Horner, vice president for Advocacy for the American Cancer Society of New York and New Jersey, said in an announcement accompanying ?The Cancer Burden in New Jersey? report.

?Downstaters face higher cancer rates than upstaters. Generally speaking, men in downstate counties are more likely to have higher than average lung cancer rates ? the largest cancer killer,? Horner said. ?We also know that downstaters also tend to have higher smoking rates than those living upstate. We hope that this report will jump-start a statewide discussion on how to reduce cancer incidence, identify cancers earlier and to assist those in treatment.?

The report showed that four cancers ? colorectal, female breast, lung and prostate ? account for more than half of all cancers in the state and account for 49 percent of cancer deaths in New Jersey.

An estimated 49,080 New Jerseyans were diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and 16,370 died from the disease during that year.

?Lung cancer is the single largest cancer killer, causing over 4,100 deaths,? the report stated. ?Lung cancer has a higher mortality rate than the other common malignancies and has been less amenable to therapeutic advances. Colorectal and female breast cancers were the second and third most frequent causes of mortality.?

The overall incidence of cancer in Burlington County is at least 5 percent above the statewide average, but Burlington is within the average range when it comes to lung cancer. That cancer is above average in all other South Jersey counties and Ocean County, compared with the northern counties.

Ironically, the report also showed the incidence of breast cancer was higher in some northern counties than in the extremely southern Salem and Cumberland counties, which had high lung cancer rates.

The report had some good news for Burlington County on the fight to find a cure for cancer.

While cancer cases rose 2.9 percent in the decade from the mid-1990s to 2008, deaths decreased 13.1 percent in the county over the same period.

Of the four leading cancers, prostate was the most prevalent in Burlington in the period from 2004 to 2008, followed by female breast cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer.

The smoking rate for adults in Burlington County is 17 percent, compared to 22 to 25 percent in southern Salem and Cumberland counties and 11 percent in Somerset County to the north, according to the report. It finds that tobacco use costs $3.17 billion in health care spending in New Jersey, including $967 million in Medicaid.

However, state Health and Senior Services spokeswoman Donna Leusner said the state has made strides in smoking prevention in recent years ? which the study also acknowledged.

?New Jersey?s adult smoking rate is well below the national average,? she wrote in an email commenting on the cancer society report. ?New Jersey had the sixth lowest adult smoking rate in the nation at 14.4 percent in 2010. The average for all states in 2010 was 17.3 percent. This reflects a general downward trend in New Jersey. In 1996, the adult smoking rate in New Jersey was 22.7 percent.?

Smoking among those ages 12 to 17 also was down, Leusner reported, with 14.3 percent smoking in 2010, down from a high of 27.6 percent in 1999. ?New Jersey is well below the national prevalence rate of 17.4 percent,? she stated.

Citing the report, Ethan Hasbrouck, the cancer society?s state advocacy director, said New Jersey spent $30 million on smoking prevention in 2003. This year, it will spend $1.5 million, despite taking in close to $1 billion in tobacco taxes and from lawsuits involving the tobacco industry.

The data underscores ?the need for a comprehensive tobacco control program statewide,? said Hasbrouck, a graduate of Moorestown Friends School.

Such an enhanced program would include measures to educate young people against starting to smoke, smoking-cessation programs and advertisements against tobacco use, he said.

The study?s data showed tobacco is highest among those who can least afford to pay for it. In 2011, 26.2 percent of those earning less than $15,000 smoked, compared to 10.6 percent for those making more than $50,000.

The report acknowledged that New Jersey has made strides in smoking prevention in recent years.

?The decline in smoking has occurred about equally across all ethnic groups. There is now no significant difference among New Jersey?s major racial/ethnic groups in the adult prevalence of smoking,? the study said. ?However, a closer look at the data identifies one disturbing trend: The decline in smoking has not occurred among the poor ? those least able to afford the cost of cigarettes and the consequences of addiction,? the report says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that New Jersey spend $119 million annually on anti-tobacco efforts, according to the cancer society report.

?The Department of Health strongly recommends that people quit smoking to improve their health,? Leusner said. ?There are a number of ways to get help: Physicians play an important role in counseling their patients on what method is best for them. As part of wellness programs, more and more insurance companies are offering coverage for counseling, prescription drugs, gums and patches; Medicaid and Medicare cover smoking cessation.?

She advised New Jersey residents who need help quitting smoking to call the NJQuitline: 1-866-NJSTOPS (1-866-657-8677).

To view the cancer society report, visit http://www.acscan.org/ovc_images/file/action/states/nj/NJ_Cancer_Burden_Report_2012.pdf

Article source: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/lung-cancer-claims-more-lives-in-smokey-south-jersey/article_33d8e8d2-1c67-5085-84a5-aadf5345f7ac.html

Source: http://cancerkick.com/2012/07/26/lung-cancer-claims-more-lives-in-smokey-south-jersey/

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