The total cancer death rate in the United States is declining. The American Cancer Society (ACS) has just released data showing that the overall cancer death rate has declined by 20 percent since it peaked in 1991, with even greater declines in lung, colon, breast, and prostate cancers. According to an ACS press release, these data suggest that in 2009 alone, about 1.2 million deaths from cancer could have been prevented. The latest figures come from 2 reports published by the ACS. One is Cancer Facts & Figures 2013, published on the ACS website; the other is published Jan. 17 in CA Online: The Journal of Cancer for Clinicians. The data came from the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics. This is the second report in as many weeks to highlight the apparent decline in cancer mortality in the United States. Earlier this month, the annual report on the state of the nation’s cancer presented a continued decline in cancer deaths. At that time, Dr. Seffrin noted that “the continuing downward trend in cancer mortality over the past two decades is encouraging,” and he and others emphasized that there is still much work to be done. The report highlighted the increasing incidence of cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and the potential preventive effects of HPV vaccines. All major cancer death rates are declining The report notes that cancer death rates declined from a peak of 215.1 per 100,000 in 1991 to 173.1 per 100,000 in 2009 (the most recent available figure). The four cancers with the largest decreases in cancer deaths were: lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers. These four cancers account for nearly half of all cancer deaths, but lung cancer is the worst, with lung cancer deaths expected to account for 26% of all cancer deaths in women and 28% in men in 2013. Over the past two decades, the death rate from prostate cancer has declined by 40 percent, and the death rate from colorectal cancer, female breast cancer, and male lung cancer has declined by 30 percent. The main reasons for this are: lung cancer has benefited from a reduction in smoking, and colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers have benefited from early detection and treatment. Not all cancer mortality rates are declining. The new report highlights that mortality from pancreatic cancer has been on the rise, with most patients dying within a year of diagnosis. The lack of progress in primary prevention, early diagnosis and treatment is the main reason why more efforts are needed in the research of pancreatic cancer.