health
Cancer death rate drops, ACS report shows
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 16, 2012
Cancer death rates declined from 1999 to 2008 in men and women of every racial and ethnic group with the exception of American Indians/Alaska Natives, whose rates remained stable, said an American Cancer Society report published online Jan. 4 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
For men overall, the death rate decreased 23% from 1990 to 2008, the study showed. The rate fell 15% for women overall from 1991 through 2008 (link). The decrease was largely due to a reduction in deaths from breast cancer and lung cancer.
The society estimates there will be 1.6 million new cancer cases in the United States in 2012, and more than 577,000 people will die of the disease.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/01/16/hlbf0116.htm.