By MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Cancer rates in
the U.S. continue to fall, according to a report released
Wednesday. The rate of new cancer cases has been inching down at
a rate of about half a percent each year since 1999. And the
overall cancer death rate has dropped by 1.5 percent annually in
adults and 1.7 percent in children. "This is good news," said
Dr. Marcus Plescia of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, one of four organizations that worked on the report.
"There has been positive momentum for several years now and that
continues." The figures come from a report issued annually since
1998 by a group of government agencies and other organizations,
including the CDC and the American Cancer Society. The new
report includes nearly every cancer case reported in the United
States through 2008. Health officials say cancer rates have been
going down thanks to better screening, treatment advances, and
efforts to prevent some cancers by reducing smoking and other
unhealthy behaviors