Submitted by Dr.Kattlove’s Cancer Blog

Yesterday, I read the obituary of Jerome Grossman M.D., a man I knew over 40 years ago. He was my intern on the Medical service at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. Jerry then left Montefiore for Boston after that year to pursue a career in computers and medicine and became well known, not only for computerizing medical care, but also as an expert in hospital administration. He died of kidney cancer.

I have lost many close friends to cancer, perhaps a sign of my advancing age. Cancer is mainly a disease of older people and the leading cause of death for people under the age of 85. Over half of all cases are diagnosed in people over age 65 and half of all deaths from cancer happen in people over the age of 73. And, we are all living to these ages and past them, because of the cardiologists, who have kept us living longer with their cholesterol-lowering statins, aggressive treatment of our hypertension and quick repairs if our coronary arteries clog.

I just checked out some graphs the National Cancer Institute (http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2005/sections.html). The cardiologists have been great for those of us older folk, The death rate from heart disease is plummeting. But we haven’t seen much change in our chance of dying of cancer. In younger people, the news is good. Their death rate from cancer is dropping. But, the numbers are small – from 85 per 100,000 to 60 per 100,000. For those of us in the over 65 bracket, there hasn’t been any major change and the numbers are much higher – 1000 per 100,000. This translates into a percentage of one percent per year. So, as the number of old people increase, so will the number of people dying from cancer.

The Susan Komen Foundation, an organization dedicated to fighting breast cancer, has as one of its goals, ending the disease altogether. That isn’t going to happen. As we age, our cells begin to fail us, develop quirks in their DNA, and lose control over their growth regulation. Ever have a stuck accelerator pedal in your car? Cancer is the same thing, but slower. So unless we stop taking our statins and anti-hypertensives and return to eating steak for dinner every night, cancer is going to be our most likely mode of exit from this world.

This isn’t a pleasant thought. Of course having good genes is helpful, but not in our power to change. But, you can help put off cancer by getting your screenings, eating well (and less), and exercising.