(CNN) US death rates from cancer continued to decline from 2014 to 2018, driven mostly by drops in deaths from lung cancer and melanoma, according to a new report published Thursday. But America's collective lack of exercise and poor diet may have driven increases in certain other cancers, including pancreatic cancer and breast cancer, the report found. Deaths from lung cancer and melanoma saw "accelerated" declines compared to other cancers. Researchers said the drop in lung cancer death rates drove the overall decline, and the melanoma decline represented a "substantial increase in survival for metastatic melanoma." "The declines in lung cancer and melanoma death rates are the result of progress across the entire cancer continuum - from reduced smoking rates to prevent cancer to discoveries such as targeted drug therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors," Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, said in a news release.

Source: CNN July 08, 2021 11:02 UTC