iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Children and adolescents are now far less likely to die of cancer than they were in the past, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers studied the cancer death rate for children and teens from 1999 to 2014 and found a decline of about 20 percent. Declines in deaths from cancer were seen for all age groups (1-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-19) with percentages ranging from 14 percent  to 26 percent.

The rate fell similarly for both white and black children, as well as male and female children, though the cancer death rate is still 30 percent higher for boys than girls.

Brain cancer has now replaced leukemia as the leading cause of death among children, a shift thought to be due to significant advances in leukemia treatment.

The findings from this study continue a longer decline, as cancer death rates among children have been falling since the mid-1970s.

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