Lung cancer: some decrease.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Md., announced good news this week for U.S. white men: Their lung cancer incidence is beginning to drop, following a two-decade decline in smoking. "This proves that people can successfully reduce their cancer risk by quitting smoking or not taking up smoking," says NCI Director Vincent t. DeVita Jr. But the news is not so good for women and black men. In women the incidence of lung cancer, one of the most lethal forms of cancer, is continuing to rise and is expected this year to push lung cancer over breast cancer as U.S. women's leading cause of cancer death. The increased incidence is linked to more women smoking. In black men the incidence appears to be leveling off but is still 60 percent higher than in white men.