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Welcome Consortium Members and Partners.

Here you can stay connected to committee information, reports, and the latest cancer plans as well as explore resources including marketing campaigns and progress reports.

Join the Consortium

We’ve helped to change the face of cancer in Delaware.

The Delaware Cancer Consortium was originally formed as the Delaware Advisory Council on Cancer Incidence and Mortality in March 2001 to advise the governor and legislature on the causes of cancer incidence and mortality and potential methods for reducing both

Our efforts to change the cancer statistics in Delaware have made history, and our work must continue.

Governor John Carney, 2017—2021 Five-Year Plan

Today, Delaware’s cancer incidence and mortality rates continue to fall annually.

The Delaware Cancer Consortium was originally formed as the Delaware Advisory Council on Cancer Incidence and Mortality in March 2001 in response to Senate Joint Resolution 2 signed by Governor Ruth Ann Minner. Since then, the work we’ve done to help get people screened and to stop using tobacco and exposing others to secondhand smoke has paid off in lives saved. Our data, compared with national averages, speaks highly of what we’ve been able to accomplish. Our statistical achievements are important. But as noted in the most recently published five-year cancer plan, we have some unfinished business to tackle.

What can be done

  • Lower our lung cancer incidence rates by increasing screening, continuing to encourage people to stop using tobacco, and educating people of all ages, especially our youth, about the risks so they won’t start.
  • Educate Delawareans about the cancer risks of obesity and lack of physical activity, and offer ways for them to eat healthier and become more active.
  • Increase screenings of at-risk and underserved populations by identifying barriers to screening and then creating programs that overcome them.
  • Help more minorities get screened for breast cancer by increasing our efforts through our partner relationships for screening opportunities.

Our priorities moving forward

Physical Activity & Nutrition

Reduce cancer cases due to obesity

National Cancer Institute (NCI) data indicates that obesity and cancer are related — increasing the risks of cancers of the esophagus, breast (postmenopausal), endometrium, colon and rectum, kidney, pancreas, thyroid, and gallbladder — and possibly other types of cancers. The NCI estimates that the future health and economic burden of obesity in 2030 will lead to about 500,000 additional cases of cancer in the United States. NCI learned if every adult reduced his or her BMI by 1 percent — roughly 2.2 pounds for an adult — we would prevent the increase in cancer cases and actually decrease the number of cases by about 100,000.

Lung Cancer

Reduce cancer cases due to smoking

Since 85 to 90 percent of lung cancer cases can be attributed to tobacco use, lung cancer screening and tobacco prevention continue to be priorities. Our efforts will be focused on keeping youth and young adults tobacco-free, helping people who smoke to quit and educating smokers and former smokers on the low-dose CT scan recommended for lung cancer screening in an effort to identify lung cancer before it becomes life-threatening.

Upcoming Committee Meetings