Broadside: War on cancer progress report

(NECN) - A new report by the American Cancer Society and other organizations shows death rates from cancer are continuing to go down.

The good news is attributed to lifestyle changes, including way fewer people smoking than in past decades; however, doctors still say there's room for improvement.

Dr. Edward Benz, president of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, joined Broadside Wednesday with more insight on the progress made against cancer.

"I think we should be pleasantly surprised by the fact that you'd expect cancer deaths to be rising because of cancer is fundamentally a disease of older people. As the population ages, you'd think we'd have more cancer, and therefore more cancer deaths, but we're bucking that trend," Benz said.

Watch the attached video for the complete interview and a report from NBC's Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman.