The CDC released that two out of three patients diagnosed with invasive cancers in the United States survive more than five years, with the most commonly diagnosed cancers showing the best survival, with 97 percent of prostate cancer patients surviving more than five years, followed by breast cancer with 88 percent of patients surviving at five years, and colorectal cancer with 63 percent of patients surviving at five years. The outlook for the very common lung cancer is less promising, with only 18 percent of patients still alive at 5 years. This is the first time the CDC has reported survival data, and it will do so annually, the CDC said in a statement. The results were published in the latest issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The results of this analysis were derived from data from the CDC’s National Cancer Registry program. The authors reviewed the most recent data, focusing on invasive cancers (limited to cancer spread to surrounding normal tissue, with the exception of bladder cancer). The report also includes data on cancer incidence, with the most common sites of cancer occurring as follows: prostate cancer (128 per 100,000 men), breast cancer (122 per 100,000 women), lung and bronchial cancer (61 per 100,000), and colorectal cancer (40 per 100,000). These four sites accounted for about half of all cancers diagnosed in 2011. The authors note that cancer rates continue to vary, with men having higher cancer rates than women and blacks having the highest cancer rates. Relative survival at 5 years after cancer diagnosis was lower for blacks than for whites (60% and 65%, respectively). Data from the states also show geographic differences in cancer rates, with 374 per 100,000 people in New Mexico compared to 509 in the District of Columbia. Dr. Lisa Richardson, director of the CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, said the data are an important reminder that the key to surviving cancer is to ensure that everyone has access to early diagnosis and treatment. Early detection of colorectal cancer, for example, has the greatest impact on long-term survival rates. The CDC researchers in the article argue that these data are now being used by states to effectively develop multiple cancer control programs. In Vermont, for example, cancer registry data identified high rates of melanoma in two counties, which led to an early study of a new cancer prevention program.