The death rate from cancer continues its slow march downward in the United States, due to better prevention, detection and treatment methods. From 1990 to 2005, the cancer death rate among men dropped by 19.2 percent, while it declined 11.4 percent for women over the same period. The incidence of cancer also declined significantly in both men and women.

A decrease in deaths due to lung, prostate and colorectal cancer accounted for almost 80% of the decline among men, largely due to improvements in early detection. In particular, improved colorectal screening has improved survival rates, because it detects cancer at early stages, increasing the effectiveness of treatment, as well as removing precancerous lesions.

Although lung cancer deaths decreased for men, they actually increased for women. That's because smoking in women peaked about 20 years after it did for men.

37 percent of the cancer death increase for women was due to fewer breast cancer deaths. This is largely due to decreased use of hormone replacement therapy in treating osteoporosis. With breast cancer, there are causes for concern though. One is that fewer women are getting mammographies, so fewer women are getting diagnosed with breast cancer. Another cause for concern is the obesity epidemic, since fat results in early puberty and early puberty is a risk factor for breast cancer.

Despite the encouraging progress, too many Americans continue to die from cancer every year. It is predicted that in 2009, an average of 1,500 Americans will die each day from cancer. Another troubling fact is that the cancer death rate is higher for African Americans and low income Americans. In addition, 160,000 Americans die each year from lung cancer, largely due to smoking. These deaths could be easily prevented if people stopped smoking.