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The U.S. cancer death rate has hit a milestone: It's been falling for at least 25 years, according to a new report. Lower smoking rates are translating into fewer deaths. Advances in early detection and treatment also are having a positive impact, experts say. But it's not all good news. Obesity-related cancer deaths are rising, and prostate cancer deaths are no longer dropping, said Rebecca Siegel, lead author of the American Cancer Society report published Tuesday. (Stobbe, 1/8)

"The continued decline in the cancer death rate over the past 25 years is really good news and was a little bit of a surprise, only because the other leading causes of death in the US are starting to flatten. So we've been wondering if that's going to happen for cancer as well, but so far it hasn't," said Rebecca Siegel, first author of the study and strategic director of surveillance information at the American Cancer Society. (Howard, 1/8)

The good news is that cancer in America was beaten back over the 25 years ending 2016, with death rates plummeting, particularly when it comes to the four most common types of the dreaded affliction. There’s a caveat, however. Those gains have been reaped mostly by the well-off. While racial disparities have begun to narrow, the impact of limited access to treatment for the poorest Americans has increased wealth-based inequality, according to the American Cancer Society’s annual update on trends and statistics. (Cortez, 1/8)

"There are large parts of the United States where adequate medical care, particularly adequate cancer care, requires people to travel great distances, or even getting screened for cancer. So we need to really take a very careful look at all of these issues. And I do think we need to make a national commitment. We all need to make a commitment, personal commitment, whether it be government, other organizations, the American Cancer Society among them. We need to take a careful look at this and figure out what we need to do to make the outcomes equal." (Yang, 1/8)