Melanoma deaths stabilize

National report - Deaths from melanoma and kidney cancer seem to have stabilized, according to an annual report released by the American Cancer Society.

An overall decline in cancer deaths that began in the early 1990s continues, with death rates among men dropping at twice the rate as those among women - a 1.6 percent annual decline for men from the early 1990s to 2003, compared with a 0.8 percent fall for women, WebMD reports.

A reduction in cigarette smoking among adults continues to be one of the biggest factors in the decline, along with earlier cancer detection through screening, the report indicates.