The cancer death rate for all types combined has dropped by 1.1 per cent in the United States, a new report shows.

The report, supported by the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, provides updated information on cancer rates and trends in the US.

This year’s report focused on the 15 most common malignancies and looked at the trends across the five major racial and ethnic groups in the United States between 1992 and 2002.

According to the report’s authors, declines in death rates reflect progress in prevention, early detection and treatment.

Death rates from all cancers combined declined 1.5 per cent per year from 1993 to 2002 in men, compared to a 0.8 per cent decline in women for the same period. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women. Death rates decreased for 12 of the top 15 cancers in men, and nine of the top 15 cancers in women.

“Declines in mortality rates from many tobacco-related cancers in men represent an important, but incomplete, triumph of public health in the 21st century,” said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

“These trends reinforce the importance of tobacco control programs in the US, as well as measures to combat the increase in tobacco use in other parts of the world, particularly in developing countries.”

Overall cancer incidence rates (the rate at which new cancers are diagnosed) for both sexes have been stable since 1992.

The report appears in the October issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.