People in the North East of England are the most likely to be diagnosed with cancer, figures revealed today.
This is the area of the country with the highest rate for incidences of the disease, followed by The North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.
London has the lowest rate, closely followed by the East of England, the report by the Office for National Statistics show.
Cancer hotspots in the UK are the North East, the North West and Yorkshire, while people in London and the East of England are least likely to be diagnosed, the Office for National Statistics figures show
The report chalked the increased rates in the North down to deprivation, unhealthy lifestyles and smoking.
Overall, there were 296,863 people registered as having cancer in England in 2014 – a 1.4 per cent increase from the same point in 2013.
More cancers were registered in men (150,832) than women (146,031).
Smoking causes nearly 5,000 hospital admissions a day – and…
‘The NHS is neglecting lung disease sufferers’: One person…
How the ‘all-day’ suncreams can lose 74% of their power to…
Is this the end of the road for antibiotics? Superbug…
The most commonly diagnosed forms of the disease were breast cancer (15.6 per cent), prostate (13.4 per cent), lung (12.6 per cent) and colorectal (11.5 per cent).
These accounted for more than half of diagnoses in England.
The report also reveals that cancer is a disease of the elderly, as approximately 12 per cent of the population are aged 70 and above – and account for 50 per cent of the total cancers registered in 2014.
And while the number of diagnoses has has increased, the number of people dying from the disease has fallen due to advances in treatment.
NORTH EAST IS THE CANCER CAPITAL
Across the country, an average of 598.3 per 100,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2014,
But this shot up to 637.7 per 100,000 people in the North East, with deprivation, unhealthy lifestyles and smoking to blame.
This was 9.1 per cent higher than the most healthy area – London – which had a rate of 584.5 per 100,000 people.
Lung cancer showed the greatest variation between the North and South of the country.
Compared to the South East – the area with the lowest rate of diagnoses – the North East had rates that were 58.9 per cent and 88.4 per cent higher for men and women respectively.
BREAST, PROSTATE AND LUNG ARE THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF CANCER
The most commonly diagnosed forms of the disease were breast cancer (15.6 per cent), prostate (13.4 per cent), lung (12.6 per cent) and colorectal (11.5 per cent)
Breast cancer was the most common cancer diagnosed, with 46,417 cases recorded in 2014.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of these were in women, accounting for almost a third of all cancer diagnoses in females.
WHAT THE REPORT FOUND
People in the North East of England are the most likely to be diagnosed with cancer, figures revealed today.
This is the area of the country with the highest rate for incidences of the disease, followed by The North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.
London has the lowest rate, closely followed by the East of England, the report by the Office for National Statistics show.
The report chalked the increased rates in the North down to deprivation, unhealthy lifestyles and smoking.
Overall, there were 296,863 people registered as having cancer in England in 2014 – a 1.4 per cent increase from the same point in 2013.
More cancers were registered in men (150,832) than women (146,031).
The most commonly diagnosed forms of the disease were breast cancer (15.6 per cent), prostate (13.4 per cent), lung (12.6 per cent) and colorectal (11.5 per cent).
Source: Office for National Statistics
The rate of diagnoses had increased by around 6 per cent since 2005, the figures show.
In men, prostate cancer was the type most commonly diagnosed in the same year, with 39,741 cases registered.
This accounted for more than a quarter total diagnoses in men.
With a rate of 177.8 cases per 100,000 men, rising from 166.5 cases in 2005, this had risen by 6.8 per cent in nearly a decade.
Lung cancer was the second most common cancer for both sexes, accounting for 13.3 per cent of the disease in men and 11.9 per cent in women.
In 2014, there were 37,453 (20,127 males and 17,326 females) cases of lung cancer registered in England.
However, the rate of diagnoses was 40.5 per cent higher in men than women.
In comparison with 2005 the rate for lung cancer has decreased by 9.1 per cent for men and increased by 15.2 per cent for women.
This is because smoking rates fell among men but rose among women during the early 1970s to 1980s, the report said.
The next most common cancer was colorectal, with a total of 34,025 recorded in 2014.
This type accounted for 12.5 per cent of diagnoses in men and 10.4 per cent in women.
When the statisticians took account of age, the rate was 49.8 per cent higher for males than females.
CANCER IS A DISEASE OF THE ELDERLY
The majority of cancer cases were recorded in the older age groups, with more than 50 per cent in those aged 70 and above. The graph shows how rates of diagnoses rise as people age – peaking before 90 and over age group (where it begins to decrease) – showing cancer is mainly a disease of the elderly
The majority of cancer cases were recorded in the older age groups, with more than 50 per cent in those aged 70 and above.
The graph showing the cancer rates rises as people ages – peaking before 90 and over age group (where it begins to decrease) – showing cancer is mainly a disease of the elderly.
There are differences between the sexes across the age groups.
From the 20 to 24 age group up to the 55 to 59 age group, cancer rates were higher in women than men.
But in the 40 to 44 age group, the rate for women was more than double that for men.
Most of this difference is due to high rates of breast cancer in middle aged women – it accounted for 43 per cent of cancers in 20 to 59-year-old women.
For men, more were diagnosed with cancer in the 60 to 64 age group onwards.
This is because prostate cancer accounts for 35 per cent of the disease among men aged 65 to 69 group.
DIAGNOSES RISE BUT DEATHS FALL
The graph shows how, while the number of people being diagnosed with cancer (shown as a dark blue line for men and a yellow line for women) is rising, the number of people dying of the disease is falling (shown as a red line for men and a light blue line for women)
While the 1.4 per cent rise in cancer rates since last year might seem alarming, rates have slowly increased over time because of advances in screening and diagnosis.
Medical advances have resulted in early identification while reducing the number of people dying from the disease.
Therefore, cancer mortality rates – the number of people dying early – have generally decreased over time – and survival rates have also increased.
In 1995, 427.8 men and 268.4 women per 100,000 died early from cancer.
By 2014, this has fallen to 332.7 men 228.4 women per 100,000.
This rising trend of more diagnoses, higher survival and fewer deaths can be seen across the majority of different forms of the disease.
For breast cancer and prostate cancer – the most common cancers in men and women – the increase in the number of diagnoses contrasts with the decreasing trend in early deaths.
This indicates the number of patients surviving from these types of the illness continues to improve.
For example, while newly diagnosed prostate and breast cancers are on the rise – partly due to screening – the mortality rate for these cancers are far lower and decreasing.
This suggests early detection and diagnoses of these forms leads to quicker treatment, resulting in better survival.