AJR:197, July 2011
Daniel C. Sullivan, Constantine Gatsonis
A recent book tracing the history I of cancer notes that humans have been struggling to triumph over cancer for more than 4000 years [1]. Complete success in that effort would mean cures or, better perhaps, prevention. However, although there are examples of cures and prevention for some cancers, such successes cannot yet be claimed for the ma¬jority of cancers. Although mortality from all cancer in the United States has declined approximately 1% per year since 1990 due to a combination of preventive measures and effective therapies, about 7 million people worldwide and 600,000 in the United States still die of cancer each year.