The long-term decline in U.S. cancer rates can be attributed to antismoking campaigns and the decline in smoking over the past half-century, the American Cancer Society said.

UPI reported Oct. 4 that the ACS released a study showing that cancer rates fell 16 percent among men between 1991 and 2003, and that lower smoking rates among men accounted for 40 percent of the overall decline in smoking.

On the other hand, the cancer death rate rose 10 percent among women between 1991 and 2003; the ACS noted that smoking rates among women have only recently begun to decline.

The success of antismoking campaign in dissuading young people from starting to smoke could result in cancer rates falling even further in future years, said Michael Thun, co-author of the ACS study.

The research was published in the October 2006 issue of the journal Tobacco Control.