Cancer death rates decreased by 2.1 percent each year from 2015 to 2019 even as the number of diagnoses remained the same or increased, according to National Cancer Institute researchers.
The study, published in Cancer on Oct. 27, found the decrease in deaths was largely driven by a steep decline in lung cancer deaths.
"Improved treatments increase survival and can cure patients, leading to fewer cancer deaths even as more people are being diagnosed," lead researcher Kathleen Cronin, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, told ABC News.
New cancer diagnoses remained about the same between 2014 and 2018 but increased among women and young adults aged 15-39, according to the study.