Despite huge strides in treatment over the past four decades, cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of 560,000 people last year, a report said Tuesday.

US doctors and scientists have made huge strides in the fight against cancer in the past four decades, slashing the death rate by nearly 16 percent, a report published Tuesday showed.

TUESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have succeeded in freezing away breast and prostate tumors in a small number of patients, opening a promising door to a new generation of cancer treatments.

The death rate from all cancers fell by almost 16 percent from 1991 to 2006, the editorial said. Much of that decline came from anti-smoking campaigns and early disease detection, said the commentary by researchers at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.

The U.S. government has spent $100 billion funding cancer research since then-President Richard Nixon declared the ?War on Cancer? in 1971, says an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Jennifer Ashton Discusses Most Common Cancer, Risk Factors, When to Go to the Doctor

THE QUESTION Women who have cancer in one breast sometimes have the other breast removed as a preventive measure. Does this improve their chances of living longer?

Men who start going bald at a young age are up to 45% less likely to get prostate cancer in later life, a study has found.

The Lockerbie bomber is at the center of a fresh row after it emerged he is taking a cancer drug that could keep him alive for five more years, The Sun reported on Monday.

Going against the grain, U.S. Wellness Meats says its grass-fed steaks and chops can fight cancer and heart disease, as well as hunger