CDC: U.S. lung cancer rate in men and women down

ATLANTA, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The rate of new lung cancer cases decreased among U.S. men and women from 2005 to 2009, federal health officials say.

A report in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found lung cancer rates fell 2.6 percent per year among men -- from 87 to 78 cases per 100,000 men -- and 1.1 percent per year among women -- down 57 to 54 cases per 100,000 women.

The fastest drop was among adults age 35-44, decreasing 6.5 percent per year among men and 5.8 percent per year among women.

"These dramatic declines in the number of young adults with lung cancer show that tobacco prevention and control programs work -- when they are applied," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a statement.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of U.S. cancer death and the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among both American men and women. Most lung cancers are attributable to cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke, Frieden said.

Because smoking behaviors among women are now similar to those among men, women are now experiencing the same risk of lung cancer as men, the report said.