Lung cancer rates decline for U.S. men, women: study

By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) – The percentage of U.S. adults developing lung cancer is falling, with the sharpest declines among those aged 35 to 44, according to U.S. data released on Thursday, fifty years after the surgeon general’s first-ever report warning of the dangers of smoking. The lung cancer rate dropped by 2.6 percent per year among men and 1.1 percent per year among women, between 2005 and 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found, using the most recent available data. “This is a big deal,” said Clifford Hudis, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. But Hudis added that there is still much more work to be done to reduce smoking given all the health problems it creates in addition to lung cancer.