UK cancer study shows big fall in death rates since early 1990s

Slides being prepared as part of a smear test. The UK death rate among women from cervical cancer fell by 54.3%, the study found. Photograph: Anamaria Mejia/Shutterstock

More middle-aged people are getting cancer but fewer of them are dying from it thanks to improved detection and better treatment, research has found.

The findings are “positive and reassuring” for those aged 35 to 69, according to cancer experts quoted in the British Medical Journal, which published the paper.