Incidence of several common cancers rising, report finds

Sharp rises in the incidence of a number of common cancers are revealed in a new report.

For women, there was a statistically significant increase of 11.7 per cent in the incidence of lung cancers, according to the report, prepared for the United Kingdom and Ireland Association of Cancer Registries.

Lung cancers in women have been rising by 2 per cent a year since 1994 and Irish women have one of the worst records in Europe for lung cancer incidence and death rates, the report notes.

All breast cancers were up 6 per cent, while invasive breast cancers increased by 3 per cent. There was a 1.6 per cent rise in the incidence of colorectal cancers among women and a 5.1 increase in bladder cancer.

In contrast, the incidence of invasive cervical cancer dropped 15 per cent and that of in-situ or non-malignant cervical cancers by 1.4 per cent.

Among men, there was an 8.3 per cent rise in the incidence of colorectal cancer, and a 6.7 per cent rise in the incidence of melanoma. Colorectal cancers are dropping in the UK, but the report points out that the bowel screening programme, which started in 2012, could account for the increase in the Republic.

Overall, just over 20,000 cancers were registered in the Republic in 2013, a fall of 1.6 per cent on the previous year. This compares to a 1.3 per cent rise across Britain and Ireland generally. The overall increase is seen as a byproduct of the ageing of the population.

Some of the sharpest rises were noted in Northern Ireland, where the incidence of melanomas among men increased dramatically, by 28.5 per cent, while the figure for women grew 16.1 per cent. The report says the increase among males is genuine, as each case was individually verified.

Illness in North

The number of lung cancers registered in the North was up 14 per cent and bladder cancers rose by 13.8 per cent.

Dr Harry Comber, director of the Cork-based National Cancer Registry Ireland, said the figures had to be taken with a note of caution. Registrations for some cancers were subject to year-to-year variations and it was more accurate to assess trends on a longer-term basis. In addition, the number of cancers involved for some rarer forms of the disease could be quite small in some areas, leading to a further risk of sharp variations.

The figures for Ireland related to 2012, whereas those for the UK were for 2013. Dr Comber said this was because data was collected manually in Ireland and electronically in the UK. While this meant it took longer to gather information here, the quality of the data collected was good.

According to the report, there are high levels of completeness for the data gathered on cancer registrations in Ireland and the UK.

A recent review of Ireland’s cancer strategy predicted that the incidence of the disease would double in the Republic by 2040 despite improvements in services.

This is linked to the rising age profile of the population, with 20,000 people turning 65 each year, and improvements in detection.