A cancer patient receives IV chemotherapy treatment. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The cancer death rate fell by 32% between 1991 and 2019, according to an American Cancer Society report released Wednesday.
Why it matters: The latest figures show the overall risk of dying from cancer continues to drop at an accelerating rate.
- 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.