Study: Cancer death rate down 20% since 1980

The U.S. cancer death rate declined 20.1% between 1980 and 2014, to 192 deaths per 100,000 people, according to a study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. For many cancers, the study found clusters of counties with higher mortality. “Clusters of breast cancer were present in the southern belt and along the Mississippi River, while liver cancer was high along the Texas-Mexico border, and clusters of kidney cancer were observed in North and South Dakota and counties in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Alaska and Illinois,” the authors said. According to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.5 million cancers were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2013, the latest available data, ranging from 364 cases per 100,000 people in New Mexico to 512 per 100,000 in Kentucky. About two-thirds of Americans with cancer survive at least five years after diagnosis, the report notes.