Cancer Rates 20% Higher In North

People living in the North of England have a 20% higher chance of dying from cancer than those living elsewhere, a report has revealed.

The North has higher rates of cancer


Higher rates of smoking and factors such as deprivation are likely to be behind the increased risk, researchers said.

The figures, for 2005, showed there were 68 deaths per 100,000 men from lung cancer in the North compared with an average of 51 deaths across the whole of England.

Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire had the lowest rate of deaths from lung cancer, with around 36 men in every 100,000 dying from the disease.

The data was contained in the first report produced by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN). It collects data on deaths from 30 cancer networks covering the whole of England.

Cancer deaths overall were lowest in the South of England and the Midlands.

Prostate cancer was the most commonly diagnosed form of the disease in men across each of the 30 cancer networks.

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Breast cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women across the whole of the country, although rates were higher in the South than the North.

Women were more likely to die from lung cancer if they lived in the North but breast cancer if they lived in the South.

Professor David Forman, from the University of Leeds, who is an information and analysis lead for the NCIN, said: "These figures show us that some of the past trends aren't changing - cancer death rates remain higher in the North than the rest of England.

"The emergence of prostate cancer, ahead of lung cancer, as the most common cancer in men is, however, a relatively new development and could be due to a combination of a general decline in smoking rates among men and a greater awareness of prostate cancer, leading to more men asking their doctor for a test."

Source: SKY NEWS