| Cancer claims fewer victims in the UK: research |
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LONDON: Fewer people were dying of cancer while the number of cancer diagnoses remained stable, according to a new survey.
At the annual Britain Against Cancer (Bacup) conference here, statistics revealed a drop of 2.4 percent each year in death rates from cancer in the UK over the last decade. The survey covered patients between the ages of 35 and 69 and found that lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancer continued to be the most prevalent forms of cancer.
There were 22 percent fewer deaths from bowel cancer among men and 26 percent fewer among women. Breast cancer deaths also reduced by about 25 percent although more women were diagnosed with this form of cancer over the same 10-year period.
The most fatal form of cancer – stomach cancer also claimed fewer victims with death rates down 39 percent in men and 45 percent in women. Experts analysing the data at the conference, said the likely reasons for the decrease were the use of antibiotics and improvements in food preservation methods.
A decline was observed also in the number of lung cancer diagnoses both among men and women. An earlier survey had found a drop in pulmonary cancer only amongst men.
The team of experts analysing the statistics was led by Professor David Forman, chairman of the UK Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) and a researcher for Cancer Research UK. The professor said that global research effort had greatly contributed to bring down the death rates from cancer. Detection methods improved and more effective treatment was developed over the years, thanks to global research in this area. But “lung, breast, bowel and prostate - will continue to dominate in the future” he warned.
He pointed out that the number of people diagnosed with prostate cancer had grown over 200 percent in ten years but deaths from cervical cancer were fewer by a third. The key factors here were improved screening and effective pre-cancer treatment.
Then the professor said that rarer cancers could become less rare – with the statistics indicating a significant rise in the incidence of such cancers, especially mouth cancer, up by 23 percent in men and 24 percent in women; and skin melanomas which rose 35 percent among men and 22 percent among women.
The professor maintained that half of all types of cancer can be prevented by “stopping smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight and a healthy diet, by being SunSmart and by attending screening."
Posted
on : Sun, 27 Nov 2005 03:20 GMT | General News
By : Mark Richardson
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