Report: US cancer rates continue downward trend

ATLANTA (AP) — Cancer rates in the U.S. continue to fall, according to a report released today.

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.