Since 1991, the US cancer death rate has decreased by 30%.

 

According to the American Cancer Society, cancer death rates in the United States have decreased by 32% over the three decades from 1991 to 2019.

Prevention, screening, early detection, and treatment of major malignancies such as lung and breast cancer have all contributed to the drop.

The decrease has resulted in 3.5 million fewer fatalities.

Cancer remains the second largest cause of mortality in the United States, trailing only heart disease.

Cancer death rates were 215 per 100,000 people in 1991 and 146 per 100,000 people in 2019.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing 350 people every day.

People are being detected earlier, and technological advances have raised survival rates by three years.

Breast cancer rates have actually grown by 0.5% per year since the mid-2000s, owing to "more women being obese, having fewer children, or having their first baby after the age of 30," according to American Cancer Society research. The presence of more fat tissue can raise levels of the hormone estrogen, which has been related to cancer.

Though having fewer or later children has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, the link is not completely understood.

However, breast cancer mortality rates have decreased.

The study discovered that "at least 42% of the expected new cancers are theoretically avoidable," adding that smoking causes 19% of cancers and a combination of excess body weight, drinking alcohol, poor diet, and physical inactivity causes 18% of cancers.

In addition, the paper looked at racial and economic differences in cancer outcomes.

The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated already challenging access to cancer testing and treatment for marginalized people.

White people have a greater survival rate than black people for practically every type of cancer. Black women with breast cancer die at a rate 41% greater than white women.

One encouraging trend has been a significant decrease in cancer deaths among children and adolescents. Cancer death rates in youngsters have decreased by 71% since the 1970s, and by 61% in those aged 15 to 19.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children aged one to fourteen, after accidents.

Children's cancer research has lagged behind adult research because of "poor enrolment in clinical trials, changes in tumor biology and treatment regimens, as well as treatment tolerance and compliance," according to the paper.