Cancer

Introduction

Cancer is a common condition and is a serious health problem, both in the UK and across the North East of England. One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes. There are hundreds of differnt types of cancer. The most common cancers in the UK are:

  • Breast cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Colorectal cancer
  • Bladder cancer
  • Uterine cancer

Risk factors for cancer include smoking, drinking alcohol, obesity, poor diet, lack of exercise and prolonged exposure to sunlight. Our cancer risk is greatly affected by the way we live our lives. Research suggests that half of all cancers could be prevented by changes to our lifestyle.

Treatments for cancer include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Some cancers cancers can be cured if detected early enough.

There are large inequalities in incidence, mortality and survival for cancer; there is also inequity along the patient pathway. In a region typified by large inequalities working to understand these inequalities is key.

Highlight figures

  • There were 243,400 new cases of cancer in England in 2006, of those 13,600 were in the North East.
  • There were 124,300 deaths from cancer across England in 2005, of those 7,500 were in the North East.
  • In England the incidence of all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) was 380.0 per 100,000 population for 2001-2005.
  • In the North East the incidence of cancer is higher than the national average, 411.6 per 100,000 population for 2001-2005.
  • The mortality rate for all cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) is also higher in the North East compared to England with 187.7 per 100,000 population in England compared to 214.8 per 100,000 population in the North East.
  • The one year survival rate for all cancers is 63.5% across the North East compared to 66.7% for England.
  • The five year survival rate for all cancers is 48.4% across England compared to 43.2% in the North East.