Prostate cancer is on the decline worldwide

Good news for men around the world: Prostate cancer is on the decline.

In most countries worldwide, both new diagnoses and deaths by prostate cancer have either stabilized or declined, per a new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research on Tuesday. The study, funded by the American Cancer Society, found that the U.S. has had the biggest drop in new diagnoses after analyzing data from 38 countries from 1980 to 2012.

Prostate cancer is the second most common and the sixth deadliest type of cancer in men, CNN reported. The study's authors, led by MaryBeth Freeman, believe that these results are "encouraging," and that the decline is due in part to the prevalence of prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, screening.

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A PSA screening is a blood test that searches for a type of antigen that is usually high in men with prostate cancer, and in addition to a rectal exam, can aid in the early diagnosis of prostate cancer and improve the odds of survival.

While this is an early result, Freeman remains optimistic that "further studies" that examine prostate cancer on a global scale can provide a better look at prostate cancer trends worldwide, as well as assessing the effectiveness of PSA screenings in diagnosis. Read the original press release from the AACR meeting here.