Cancer statistics are never good news, but there are a few new rays of hope.

Just-released data from the National Cancer Institute say death rates from the four leading cancers—lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal—are down, and overall mortality has stabilized.

The death rate from lung cancer, the leading cancer killer, continues to fall among white and black men, while the rate of increase has slowed among women (reflecting reductions in tobacco smoking). Death rates from breast cancer continue to fall, too, even though there has been a gradual, long-term increase in the number of new diagnoses—partly attributed to more mammography screening. The year 2000 (the most recent year for which NCI has released cancer statistics) also marked the first time the United States reached the 70% usage level for mammography.Prostate cancer death rates have been declining since 1994, while incidence rates started edging up in 1995 (3.0% per year increase in white men and 2.3% per year increase in black men). Declines also have been seen in colorectal cancer among blacks and whites, while 1996 brought the stabilization of incidence rates.

To what do we owe these declines? Research, research, research.

Research is at the core of reducing cancer deaths and developing better diagnoses in treatments—as well as extending quality of life in many cancer patients. Yes, there are risks, too. Thousands of researchers and patients are involved in clinical trials today, encompassing nearly every anatomical site and disease stage. Yet less than 5% of adults with cancer participate in clinical trials each year. That number must surge if there is hope for continued declines in cancer deaths and new cases.

With October being Cancer Awareness Month, there are many ways we can all help raise knowledge of the need for cancer research. One crusade for building awareness is the Tour of Hope, a 3,200-mile, weeklong (October 11–18) bicycling tour from Los Angeles to Washington, DC. A friend of mine, Doreen Wiggins, is one of 26 riders who will pedal 24/7, in shifts, across America’s hills and plains. Doreen is an ob-gyn now training to be a breast surgeon, a mother of four, and an avid cycler. She will ride alongside Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and a troupe of pedal-pushers ranging in age from 29 to 57. They are cancer survivors, oncology nurses, physicians and researchers, businessmen, an interventional radiologist, a TV anchorwoman, a lawyer, and a bellman—all with amazing stories. Log on to tourofhope.org to read for yourself. And while you are there, sign the Cancer Promise or donate to sponsor a rider. And be sure, too, to mark it in your consciousness that cancer research is a must to get closer to a cure.

Mary C. Tierney, Editor in Chief