7 February 2011
A new study published in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology, has shown an overall fall in cancer death rates for men and women across Europe, but more worryingly it has highlighted rising rates of lung cancer in women as an area of concern.
The British Lung Foundation has responded to the study, which looked at estimates based on a new mathematical model for predicting cancer mortality. The findings show that overall, almost 1.3 million people will die from cancer in 2011. Recent declines in stomach, colon, breast, womb, prostate and male lung cancers should continue, according to the researchers.
Professor Stephen Spiro, spokesperson for the British Lung Foundation, said: “Lung cancer remains the most common killing cancer in men and women and is related to smoking in 80% of cases. Over the last 30 years, lung cancer rates have dropped in men as they have quit smoking in large numbers. However, this trend is not seen in women as nearly a quarter continue to smoke.
“The rates of lung cancer in women are not falling in the UK and the disease has overtaken breast cancer as the most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK and in many European countries.
“The BLF has recently welcomed the Government’s outcomes strategy for cancer and hopes it will go a long way in improving survival rates for lung cancer through early diagnosis.”
Read more about the study on BBC Online or the Independent.
