Briana Koeneman
Life Expectancy In The US Has Dropped For The First Time In Decades
The numbers have researchers very concerned about Americans' health and well-being.
LEARN MOREPosted: 9:10 a.m. EST Jan 6, 2017
Fewer Americans are dying from the second biggest killer in the U.S.: cancer.
New numbers from the American Cancer Society show from 1991 to 2014, the cancer death rate has dropped by a quarter.
That means there were about 2 million fewer cancer deaths than expected if cancer death rates stayed at their peak.
The big overall drop is fueled by decreasing death rates from four major types of cancer: lung, breast, colorectal and prostate.
The American Cancer Society's report says those encouraging numbers are because of better screening, better treatment and fewer smokers.
The society's chief medical officer said in a statement, "The continuing drops in the cancer death rate are a powerful sign of the potential we have to reduce cancer's deadly toll."
But there's still a long way to go. The organization estimates this year, the U.S. will have nearly 1.7 million new cancer cases and over 600,000 cancer deaths.
