The pace at which Americans are getting cancer has started to decline for the first time, marking what could be a long-awaited turning point in the battle against the disease, according to an annual report that tracks progress in the war on cancer.

Cancer deaths have also continued a decline that began in the early 1990s, meaning that for the first time both trend lines are dropping.

"It is a significant milestone," said Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, which produces the report with the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. "It is a really big deal."

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine

1. Sick & Tired of Nuance wrote: Well, the last above ground nuclear test was in 1980.  We also have a lot fewer people smoking these days. I guess that despite the hole in the ozone, we are on the mend. November 25, 8:19 pm | [comment link]

2. Sidney wrote: Well I looked all the way to the end of the article to find the bad news: Critics, however, noted that many forms of cancer are still on the rise, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney cancer and melanoma Judging by the non-use of hats, sunscreen and too much time spent on beaches down here in SoCal, I’m afraid melanoma rates are never going to go down.  The social pressure is just too great, and more and more people are in southern latitudes.  You can persuade people to stop smoking, but you’ll never stop them from going to the beach.  Too much sun will always be sexy. November 25, 9:47 pm | [comment link]

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