The cancer mortality rate in the US fell by 2.4% from 2017 to 2018, the biggest decline in a single year and a sign of the impact of new treatments on lung cancer, in particular, the American Cancer Society said.
It was the second year in a row with a record decline, and progress continues the gains made for more than a quarter of a century, the cancer company said in a report released Tuesday.
Overall, the cancer mortality rate has dropped 31% since its peak in 1991, according to the report, which was published online in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
“Seeing these continuing declines in cancer mortality is very encouraging,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of her new report.
Despite the gains, cancer remains one of the country’s biggest killers: the second leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease. In 2018, he was responsible for more than 599,000 deaths, the report said.