Cancer Death Rates Decrease

The cancer death rate in the United States continues to go down, a new report from the nation's leading cancer organizations says. What's more, cancer incidence also appears to be dropping. The findings come from the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2005, Featuring Trends in Lung Cancer, Tobacco Use and Tobacco Control. Cancer death rates for both sexes combined declined about 1.8% per year from 2002 through 2005, almost double the 1.1% per year decrease seen from 1993 through 2002. And for the first time in the 10-year history of the report, incidence rates for all cancers combined decreased, falling by 0.8% per year from 1999 to 2005.