In brief

Big fall in death rates from many major cancers: The combined death rates from breast, bowel, lung, and prostate cancer have fallen by 30% in the past 20 years, figures from Cancer Research UK have shown. Death rates from breast cancer fell by 38%, bowel cancer by 34%, lung cancer by 27%, and prostate cancer by 21%. Together, these cancers account for almost half of all deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom. However, mortality rates from liver, pancreatic, melanoma, oral, and some digestive cancers have increased.1

Clinical trials that end early are rarely published unless they show a treatment benefit: Most clinical trials are never published …