The American Cancer Society says in a new report that the rate of deaths from breast cancer has continued to decline by around 2 percent each year in the U.S., as it has since 1990.

The report also specifies that racial disparities are still present. The cancer death rate for white and Hispanic/Latina women fell by 2.4 percent between 1995 and 2004 and only by 1.6 percent for African-American women, during that same period.

It showed no change for Asian American/Pacific Islanders or American Indian/Alaskan Native women, the ACS says in a statement posted on its website. The group suggests that the “impressive winning streak” may be due to advances in early detection and treatment.

The decline in the number of breast cancer cases diagnoses is partly attributed to the possibility that fewer women are getting mammograms.

Breast cancer diagnoses fell by an average of 3.7 percent a year for white women between 2001 and 2004, coinciding with a decline in the use of mammography and hormone replacement therapy by this group.

There was no significant change in the number of breast cancer diagnoses recorded among black women, which in turn coincided with no significant change in the use of mammography and hormone replacement therapy by this group.

On average, the breast cancer death rate decreased by 2.2 percent each year between 1990 and 2004, the ACS says in its report, with a particularly significant decline for younger women.

For women over the age of 50, a steep decline (by 4.8 percent per year) has been recorded since 2001. Among women under age 50, incidence rates have remained stable since 1986, the report says.

Fewer smaller tumors have been diagnosed since 2000, with a decline of 3.8 percent per year. More larger tumors have been diagnosed since 1992, the report found, with an increase of 1.7 percent per year.

The report, titled “Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2007-2008,” shows that about 2.4 million women living in the U.S. in 2004 had a history of breast cancer.

“While many women live in fear of breast cancer, this report shows a woman today has a lower chance of dying from breast cancer than she's had in decades,” Dr. Harmon Eyre, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said in a statement.

The report also warns about the major risk factors for breast cancer that women can control somewhat. These include obesity, alcohol use, secondhand smoke, and sedentariness.