Male cancer cases plateau but women’s rates still rising

Cancer among Irish men has reached a plateau but the incidence of the disease among women continues to increase, according to the annual report of the National Cancer Registry.

Survival rates continue to increase, though more slowly than before but, thanks to the ageing of the population, the total number of cancers continues to rise.

Lung cancer is of particular concern; it is the leading cause of death in both sexes and has overtaken colorectal cancer as the second most common cancer diagnosed in women. Lung cancer rates are falling in men as the number of male smokers drops but they are rising by more than 2 per cent a year in women.

One in three men, and one in four women, will contract cancer over their lifetime. One in eight men, and one in 10 women, will die of the disease.

Survival rates

The five-year survival rate for breast cancer increased from 80 per cent to 82 per cent between 2003-2007 and 2008-2012. For colorectal cancer, the survival rate increased from 57 per cent to 61 per cent and for cervical cancer it went from 56 per cent to 62 per cent. The improvement in breast and colorectal survival rates tended to be slightly greater in the greater Dublin area.

The report says about 37,000 new cancers were registered annually in 2011-2013, of which about 30,000 were malignant. Of these, 10,000 were non-melanoma cancers of the skin, the commonest form of cancer, and rarely fatal.

The risk of developing cancer is higher for men than for women, overall and for most cancer types.

The fall in male cancer rates is the result of decreases in the incidence of lung and bladder cancers, and leukaemia.

Among women, cancer rates have been rising at 1 per cent a year since 1994 and there is no sign of this trend trailing off. The report says the increase is due to wider screening for cervical and breast cancer as well as increased female smoking rates.

Lung cancer accounted for 18 per cent of cancer deaths in women and 23 per cent of cancer deaths in men.

Prevention

At the end of 2013, there were about 124,000 people still alive whose cancer had been diagnosed in the preceding 20 years. This included 30,000 breast cancer survivors and 28,000 prostate cancer survivors.

Commenting on the figures, Dr Harry Comber, interim director of the registry, said cancer now accounted for 30 per cent of all deaths in Ireland and its prevention must be a high public health priority.

The recent fall in female smoking rates has not yet had any impact on female cancer risk, he said. “Cancer risk in women continues to rise, and lung cancer has now overtaken colorectal cancer to become the second most common major cancer in women.”