Cancer death rate falls 32% since peak in 1991

• The falling mortality rate translates to about 3.5 million fewer cancer deaths over the 28-year period than had the rate stayed the same, the ACS notes in a press release.

Details: The ACS attributes the drop in part to earlier detection of lung cancer and the fact that patients with the disease are living longer after diagnosis.

• The report also credits increased access to screening and care, declining rates of smoking and newly available combination therapies.
• Rates of liver cancer, one of the most deadly, have also stabilized, when only a few years ago it was one the fastest increasing cancer, per ACS.

Caveat: The newly reported figures don't account for the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has likely had on cancer diagnoses and deaths, the ACS notes.