According to a report published January 4, 2012, in CA: Cancer Journal for Clinicians, cancer incidence, mortality, and survival have improved overall since 1990. An estimated 1.02 million deaths from cancer were avoided during the last 20 years because of advances in treatment and prevention. There is still work to be done because not all members of society have benefited equally from these advances, and some cancers are increasing in prevalence even as overall mortality rates decrease. ACS estimates there will be 1.7 million new cancer diagnoses and almost 600,000 cancer deaths in the US in 2012. For perspective, the three least populous US states had a combined total of just over 1.8 million residents in the 2010 census. Wyoming, the least populous state, had just under 600,000 residents.
