Women face alarming rise in malignant cancers

AROUND 74,000 malignant cancers in women will be diagnosed this year, up over 25% on 1994 figures, a startling new report published today shows.

It also reveals that, apart from Denmark, the death rate from cancer among women in Ireland is higher than any other Western European countries.

The report found that survival, in Ireland, for several cancers - breast, lung and stomach - is relatively poor by international standards.

The report by the Women's Health Council and the National Cancer Registry has called for more research to find out why there is a difference in cancer incidence, survival and mortality between Ireland and other countries.

It also wants the gaps in information regarding cancer risk factors to be addressed. The report revealed significant differences in cancer incidence among women from different socioeconomic groups.

Council director, Geraldine Luddy, said she was particularly concerned that the likelihood of treatment for cancer and survival have also been found to be related to socioeconomic status.

The report has called for diagnostic and treatment services to be made more accessible to women and men from the most disadvantaged sections of society.

Furthermore, with smoking rates higher among women from disadvantaged backgrounds, initiatives were needed to encourage them to stop and make healthy lifestyle choices.

Lung, cervix pancreas and stomach cancers are higher for women living in more deprived areas than for those in affluent areas. On the other hand, incidence rates of breast cancer and skin melanoma are higher in women in affluent areas.

Another striking finding was that older women were much less likely to receive treatment for cancer than those in a younger age groups.

The report has called for national breast and cervical cancer screening programmes to be rolled out to the entire country as soon as possible. And, it said, consideration should also be given to the implementation of a pilot programme for colorectal cancer screening.

Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney recently asked the HSE for an implementation plan for a national cervical screening programme. She is due to present a report on the €25 million programme to the Joint Committee on Health and Children next month.

BreastCheck, meanwhile, expects to be in a position to roll out its screening programme to the west and south in mid-2007.