Irishmen’s risk of developing cancer is ‘plateauing’
Data from Ireland’s main source of cancer information shows there has been no recent increases in cancer risk overall for men.
The registry’s latest annual report, published today, points out that the risk of men developing cancer had been rising steadily since 1994. Cancer rates in men grew at 1% each year until 2008 when the incidence levelled off and remained the same until 2013.
According to the Irish Cancer Society, a reduction in prostate cancer diagnosis and a fall in the rate of male lung cancer was the most likely reason why the male cancer rate plateaued.
The risk of lung cancer for men has continued to fall at 1% a year from 1994 to 2013 due to a long-term decrease in the number of men who were smokers, but it is still increasing for women — at 2% per year over the same period.
The society’s head of advocacy and communications, Kathleen O’Meara, said women wanting to quit smoking needed to be supported.
Overall, the registry’s report that looked at cancer incidence in Ireland from 1994 to 2013, shows that the number of cancers continues to rise, mainly due to Ireland’s ageing population.
About 37,000 new cancers or other tumours were registered annually in 2011 to 2013, of which about 30,000 were potentially fatal.
Of the 30,000 malignant cancers, 10,000 were non-melanoma skin cancer, the most common cancer that is rarely fatal.
The risk of developing cancer was higher for men than for women overall and for most cancer types.
Almost 9,000 cancer deaths occurred in 2012, about the same as the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease. Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer death — about 20% of the total.
The risk of dying of cancer was over 30% higher for men than for women but the report does show that survival from cancer continues to improve.
Survival at five years following diagnosis improved from 57% to 61% for bowel cancer patients, from 80% to 82% for breast cancer, and from 56% to 62% for cervical cancer, for patients diagnosed in 2008-2012 compared to those diagnosed in 2003-2007.
At the end of 2013 there were approximately 124,000 persons still alive whose cancer had been diagnosed over the previous 20 years (1994-2013).
The most numerous cancer survivors were those who had been diagnosed with breast cancer (29,828), prostate cancer (28,432), bowel cancer (16,754), or melanoma of the skin (8,510).
Harry Comber, interim director of the National Cancer Registry, agreed with the Irish Cancer Society that, with cancer now accounting for 30% of all deaths in ireland, its prevention must be a public health priority.
More information can be found on www.cancer.ie.
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