Washington, Jan 14 (IANS) The death rate from cancer in the US has dropped by 2.4 per cent from 2017 to 2018, the biggest single-year decline on record, the American Cancer Society said in its latest report.

It was the second year in a row with a record-setting drop, and the progress continues gains that have been made for more than a quarter of century, according to the report released on Wednesday, in which researchers analysed cancer mortality data from 1930 to 2018.

Overall, the cancer mortality rate has fallen by 31 per cent since its peak in 1991, said the report, Xinhua news agency reported.

The latest decline left the mortality rate at 149 deaths for every 100,000 people in the general population in 2018.

"To see these continuing record declines in cancer mortality is very encouraging," Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of its new report, was quoted as saying.

Despite the gains, cancer remains the second leading cause of deaths in the country, after heart disease, the report said.

In 2018, it was responsible for more than 599,000 deaths, it added.

The report was published online in the journal 'CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'.