Scientists say lower smoking rates, earlier detection and better drugs are responsible for a steady decline in cancer deaths since 1991.

The U.S. cancer death rate dropped 2.2 percent in 2017 compared with 2016, a record decline that was part of a 29 percent overall drop in the cancer death rate since 1991, the American Cancer Society reported January 9, 2020. That translates to about 3 million fewer cancer deaths in the past three decades. Experts also point to declining smoking rates, particularly among youth. Tobacco use had steadily fallen for two decades before teen vaping reversed the trend in 2018.

• Tags:
• News