U.S. life expectancy goes up as cancer deaths go down
U.S. life expectancy increased in 2018 after a worrisome four-year decline, a reversal owing in part to a welcome decrease in deaths due to overdose but even more so to a drop in those from cancer. The rise brought the anticipated lifespan of someone born in 2018 to 78.7 years, an increase of about a month from 2017 but still short of the 78.9 years reached in 2014. The 2018 figure also included easing in mortality from heart disease and lung disease. The reduction in deaths from cancer, the nation’s No. 2 killer, occurred as rapid advances are being made in treatment with newly developed immunotherapies and precision targeting of tumors’ genetic profiles as well as in detection and prevention. The Gazette spoke to Timothy Rebbeck, the Vincent L. Gregory Jr. Professor of Cancer Prevention at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Zhu Family...