cancer-society-logo.jpgNumbers of new cancer cases continued declining and death rates from all cancers combined declined significantly for both men and women in the United States, according to a report from leading health and cancer organizations.

The drops are driven largely by declines in rates of new cases and rates of death for the three most common cancers in men (lung, prostate, and colorectal cancers) and for two of the three leading cancers in women (breast and colorectal cancer). New diagnoses for all types of cancer combined in the United States decreased, on average, almost 1 percent per year from 1999 to 2006. Cancer deaths decreased 1.6 percent per year from 2001 to 2006.

Doctors and Researchers attribute the success to better screening and early detection, better treatment for the disease and better lifestyle choices in Americans. (Watch the NBC video below for a neat summary of report.)

These findings are from a report authored by researchers from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. The report was published online Monday, in the journal Cancer.

Men experienced the greatest declines in incidence (new cases) and mortality (death) rates. For colorectal cancer, the third most frequently diagnosed cancer in both men and women, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, overall rates are declining, the report said.

The number of men diagnosed with new cases has dropped for cancers of the prostate, lung, oral cavity, stomach, brain, colon and rectum. In women, incidence rates decreased for breast, colorectal, uterine, ovarian, cervical and oral cavity cancers.

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