The Princess Announces Cancer Diagnosis
I think we're all going to be very aware of cancer -- a few of my posts and some additional U.S. stats
When I saw Catherine, Princess of Wales’s announcement yesterday:
And the few details she gave, I thought… oh no. This is horrid.
I am not expecting them to provide more details (they’re British (and royal), after all). But the details I have heard, and given her age (42), and the trends I’ve seen in the U.S., I do wonder if she has been affected by some of the recent cancer trends I’ve seen.
Recent Cancer Posts
Over the last few months, I’ve been posting about cancer death trends.
In that Feb 8, 2024 post, I graphed the age-adjusted death rate for the top cancers in the U.S., covering 1968-2023:
For most of the cancer types, there had been a good trend… except prostate cancer hasn’t been doing great since 2011 (I have a personal interest in this).
Pancreatic cancer, as you can see, has a long-term increasing trend.
But this is at a very high level — the age-adjusted death rate is a weighted average, and this weighted average can by hiding other trends, which my most recent post on colorectal cancer (labeled “Colon” in the graph above) addressed.
Concerning increase in fatal cancers in young adults
Let us return to my colorectal cancer post from a few days ago:
There is more at the post.
But that’s not the only cancer with concerning trends at young ages, especially in 2023.
Mind you, cancer deaths in young adults (age 15-44) are very low compared to the middle-aged and seniors.
But in general, cancer death rates for most cancers have been decreasing for those groups, so when I see persistent increases in deaths, and I see research/clinical reports on increased diagnoses of certain cancers at advanced stages in young adults, I pay attention. The report on early-onset colorectal cancer is one such.
More cancers with increased incidence in young adult deaths
I have been investigating a variety of cancer types that seem to be involved with deaths for young adults in the U.S. in 2023 in particular.
Note: cancer deaths for young adults overall don’t seem elevated:
But that’s before you disaggregate for cancer type:
[UPDATE: ADDED LABEL TO TABLE]
I will need to return to these.
I’ve already taken a look at colon cancer, but returning to major ones like breast cancer and leukemia (these are in order of number of deaths from top to bottom) — to see how many of these have longer-term issues and how many many be short-term effects from the pandemic.
Best Wishes to the Princess
But back to what opened this post.
I wish the Princess of Wales well, even if I’m not a British subject. I’ve added her to my rosary intentions. I will pray for anybody, but will particularly add cancer patients. I do St. Peregrine novenas.
If you’re new here, my husband Stuart has metastatic prostate cancer that is treated as a chronic condition (as it’s incurable given current medicine). He was diagnosed in August 2017. I do a prostate cancer fundraiser every November.
I am currently listening to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (which I do a lot as it is), saying a prayer for all the cancer patients out there including Princess Catherine, as well as their families. I remember how tired I was when Stu was going through infusion chemo and how my hands bled from washing them so much.
I recommend using this:
Great stuff. I even use it on my face. It’s the paraffin that makes it work so well.
I gave up swearing for Lent, so I cannot use my favorite epithet on cancer.
Yes, I focus on death statistics, but mainly for the same reason I think most of us who look at it do: we’d like to extend healthy life.
Spreadsheet
This spreadsheet is viewable/downloadable via Google drive. Link is here.