Cancer death rate in Britain down by almost a third since 1980s

Death rates for a number of cancers have reduced, including stomach, prostate and breast cancers. Photograph: Phanie/Sipa Press/Alamy

The rate of people dying from cancer in the UK has fallen by almost a third since the 1980s amid seismic progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, a report has found.

About 247 in every 100,000 people die from cancer each year, a 29% drop from the peak in 1989 of about 355 per 100,000, according to an analysis by Cancer Research UK (CRUK).