Cancer Deaths

Boosting tobacco tax would curb smoking by children, 0) adultsThe Maryland legislature will have an unparalleled opportunity in 1999 to decrease cancer death rates by passing the Maryland Children's Initiative to raise the state's tobacco excise tax by $1.50 over a three-year period.A considerable body of research documents what all of us know from our own experiences: As the price of an item rises, its consumption decreases. Raising tobacco excise taxes means that many smokers would quit, and others would smoke fewer cigarettes.

Declaring qualified success in combating cancer, Maryland health officials said yesterday the state has dropped from the nation's leader in cancer deaths to the fifth-worst state.The appraisal came yesterday from the Maryland State Council on Cancer Control, which released its first five-year compilation of cancer trends. The report showed that the most important measures -- cancer death and incidence rates -- dropped incrementally from 1992 through 1996.Death rates from the four leading cancer killers -- lung, colorectal, breast and prostate -- dropped over that period, as did rates of newly diagnosed cases.

Health inspectors will begin testing private drinking-water wells in Anne Arundel County this month hoping to find out why the county has one of the highest cancer death rates in the state.County, state and federal officials will spend about four months checking tap water at about 50 homes in the county for pesticides, industrial chemicals and other compounds believed to cause cancer."So far, they haven't found anything out of the ordinary with our water supply," said Richard Dixon, regional manager for water operations at the county's Department of Public Works.

WASHINGTON -- Over many years, John C. Bailar III has spoken unpalatable truths about the war on cancer, deeming it a failure in reducing deaths, and calling for more research on prevention, even if that means less research on cures.A physician and biostatistician, Dr. Bailar made himself unwelcome within the government's health establishment by showing, in clear numbers, that the quest for improved cures hadn't succeeded. Many cancer treatments are effective, he emphasized, but despite the expenditure of billions of research dollars, improvements for treating most cancers have been negligible.

Fed up with bait-and-switch governmentIf you pay taxes in Howard County, you might want to read what follows very closely.In 1993, over the objections of many citizens, our county zoning board approved a category of zoning called "mixed-use district." This Columbia-style development category, having a mix of mid- to high-density housing, employment and open space uses, was put forth largely on the (questionble) tenet that tax revenues from the employment portion would help offset the costs to taxpayers generated by the residential part.

For the first time since 1900, overall cancer death rates have shown a sustained decline, a new analysis has shown.Although death rates of some particularly deadly cancers are rising, a study of all cancer deaths from 1990 to 1995 documented the historic drop.Experts attributed the decline to preventive measures, especially anti-smoking efforts, and to improvements in early detection and treatment, which have increased the chances of surviving many common cancers."This is the news we've been waiting for," Dr. Richard Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute, said.

As far as we know, no one in our immediate families has had cancer; but my husband and I would like to know what steps we might take to lessen the chances that we are or our children will get it.The single most effective way to limit your risk of cancer is to avoid smoking. Cigarette smoking is estimated to account for one third of all cancer deaths in this country, and is the underlying cause of the vast majority of the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States -- lung cancer.

A: My father was recently diagnosed with colon cancer at age 71. Does this increase my risk of developing colon cancer? Is there anything I can do to avoid getting it?Q: Like everyone else in this country, you have ample reason to worry about colon cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death among Americans; in 1993 there were 152,000 new cases and 57,000 deaths from colon cancer. On average, Americans have a 6 percent risk of developing colon cancer during their lifetime, and a 2.5 percent chance of dying from it. There has been no decrease in the frequency of colon cancer in recent years.

They are citizen sleuths investigating a deadly mystery.Each month, the members of Anne Arundel County's Advisory Task Force on Cancer Control come together to review the clues: statistics on cancer victims, maps of hazardous waste sites and private wells, cancer deaths in dogs, and reports on the hazards of radon and overhead electrical lines.Halfway through their year-long assignment, the members of the group know there is no single culprit. They know that there are many reasons why Anne Arundel has the second-highest cancer rate in Maryland and why the state ranks third in the country in cancer deaths.