New statistics published by Cancer Research UK and the UK Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) have revealed that fewer middle-aged people are dying of cancer, while the number of new cases is stable. The figures reveal that lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancers will continue to be the most common types by far, but the incidence of some less common cancers is increasing.
This is the first time that incidence trend data have been available over a ten-year period for the whole of the UK. A team led by Professor David Forman, Cancer Research UK researcher at the University of Leeds and chair of the UKACR, analysed the latest trends amongst people aged between 35 and 69. By highlighting cancer trends in people currently in middle age, the figures give an insight into the types of cancer that will pose the biggest future threats as this group continues to age.
Overall, cancer incidence rates have remained stable amongst 35-69 year olds, but death rates have fallen by around 2.4% each year over the past ten years. The number of people dying of bowel cancer has fallen considerably. Rates fell by 22% in men and 26% in women. And mortality from breast cancer fell by a quarter over the past ten years, in spite of an increase in incidence.
