The U.S. has seen a steady decline in the number of cancer cases and the number of cancer deaths over the last 15 years, according to a new report from the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society.

The New York Times reported Nov. 26 that the report is significant because of the extended period in which cancer rates have headed downward. The researchers found a 0.8 percent year-to-year drop in cancer diagnosis rates from 1999-2005, and death rates from cancer dropping by 1.8 percent each year from 2002-2005.

The report also shows a continuation of the long-term trend of decreased incidence of lung cancer among men and increased incidence among women.

"Women, unfortunately, got hooked on the smoking habit in the '60s and '70s, so there was a larger increase in smoking later on in time, and the prevention of smoking has been slower," said Christine Eheman, chief of the cancer surveillance branch at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The decrease in lung cancer that we hope will occur has not been happening yet."

Researchers said tobacco-control policies like smoking bans have had a noticeable impact on cancer trends. For example, the California lung-cancer death rate among men declined a higher-than-average 2.8 percent each year from 1996-2005; California was the first state to put in place an extensive statewide tobacco-control program. It also was the only state to experience a decrease in lung-cancer incidence among women, according to the study.

The report was published in the Dec. 3, 2008 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.