INFORMATION RESOURCES ON CANCER
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Introduction
Around one person in three in the UK will develop a cancer at sometime in their life. One in four will also die from cancer, making it the second most common cause of death after circulatory disease. Cancer survival rates are increasing, however, with half of people diagnosed with cancer now surviving for five years.
Key cancer statistics for England: all malignant neoplasms excluding non-melanoma skin
| |
Male |
Female |
Persons |
| Number of cases (2007) |
124,906 |
123,805 |
248,711 |
| Age-standardised incidence rate* |
408.4 |
356.8 |
382.6 |
| Number of deaths (2008) |
65,535 |
60,536 |
126,071 |
| Age-standardised mortality rate* |
199.2 |
146.6 |
172.9 |
| % five year survival (1999-2003) |
46.2 |
55.2 |
50.8 |
*Rate per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population
Source: National Cancer Information Service (NCIS), June 2010
The most common cancers are of the breast, lung, bowel and prostate, together accounting for over half of all new cancers each year. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in both men and women, leading to around one quarter of all deaths from cancer in men and one fifth in women.
Although cancer can develop at any age it is most common in older people. Around three-quarters of cases occur in people aged 60 and over, whilst three-quarters of deaths from cancer are in people aged 65 and over. However, lifestyle, socio-economic factors, ethnicity and genetic predisposition also have an influence on cancer risk, with smoking being the single biggest cause of cancer. The relationship between deprivation and lung cancer incidence and mortality has been shown to be particularly strong, with incidence rates being two and a half times higher and mortality rates twice as high in the most deprived areas as the least.
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PAGE CREATED: 29 October 2009 | PAGE REVISED: 18 June 2010