Σάββατο 31 Ιανουαρίου 2015

CANCER STATISTICS IN EUROPE

Cancer mortality rates are continuing to fall in the European Union, as has recently been reported in the United States.
Cancer mortality predictions for 2015, reported in a study published online January 26 in the Annals of Oncology, confirm the overall favorable cancer mortality trend in the European Union, translating to an overall 26% fall in men and 21% fall in women since its peak in 1988, say researchers. They estimate that the fall in the mortality rate since that time corresponds to 325,000 deaths from cancer being avoided in 2015.
However, while overall cancer death rates are falling, there are two notable exceptions to this favorable trend, the researchers note: lung cancer in women and pancreatic cancer in both sexes.
In addition, although the cancer mortality rates continue to decline, the actual number of deaths from all cancers will continue to rise due to growing populations and numbers of elderly people, they add.
Lung Cancer Remains Top Killer
Lung cancer remains the most frequent cause of cancer death, accounting for 20% of all cancer deaths, the researchers note. As tobacco accounts for over 80% of lung cancer, it "is still the greatest determinant of cancer deaths in the European Union."
But while lung cancer mortality rates among men in Europe are falling, the rate among women is increasing, and the latest figures show that mortality from lung cancer in women has just overtaken that from breast cancer, for the first time.
There has been "an alarming rise in the incidence of lung and other tobacco-related cancers in women...over the last 2 decades in the European Union," the researchers comment.
Lung cancer deaths in women are rising, and this neoplasm is set to have the highest age-standardized cancer mortality rate in the European Union in 2015, the researchers note.
The 2015 predicted cancer death rate from lung cancer in women is calculated at 14.24 per 100,000 (an increase of 9.2% since 2009), which is slightly higher than that calculated for breast cancer (14.22 per 100,000, which represents a fall of 10.2% since 2009).
This translates to 87,500 deaths from lung cancer (15% of the total cancer deaths in women) during 2015, although the number of deaths from breast cancer remains higher, at 90,800 for the year.
In contrast, the rate of death from lung cancer among men is falling, even though it is far higher than that for women. The lung cancer death rate in men is calculated at 36 per 100,000 (a fall of 9.1% since 2009), which translates to 191,900 predicted deaths (accounting for 25% of total male cancer deaths).
The fall of lung cancer mortality among men seen in Europe is similar to that reported in the United States, the researchers comment.
Study author Carlo La Vecchia, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Milan, urged caution in interpreting the data, as the figures for 2015 are predictions; the actual data will be available in 3 to 4 years' time, he said.
He also noted big differences between the various countries studied. The overall death rate for lung cancer among women is being driven by women in the United Kingdom (predicted death rate of 21 per 1000,000) and Poland (17 per 100,000), both of which are more than double that in Spain (eight per 100,000).
Pancreatic Cancer Mortality Continues to Rise
The other notable exception to the overall trend of declining cancer mortality rates is pancreatic cancer, which is "the only major cancer showing unfavorable trends in both sexes," the researchers comment. Mortality rates are predicted to rise by 4% in men and 5% in women since 2009.
Pancreatic cancer has a very low survival rate (5% at 5 years), they note. Its etiology is still largely unaccounted for, the researchers comment; the main identified risk factor is smoking, but this accounts for only about 30% of cases, and other factors, such as obesity, diabetes, family history, and high alcohol intake, barely account for another 10% of cases, they add.
Success Story of Stomach Cancer
One of the main drivers for the falls in cancer mortality in the European Union that have been seen in both sexes is stomach cancer, the researchers note. Cancer death rates from stomach cancer have been showing consistent falls, probably due to better diet and food conservation, and also a fall in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection.
Colorectal cancer mortality has also been showing favorable trends (and is down by 5.3% in men and 8.1% in women since 2009), but it remains the cancer with the second largest impact, after lung cancer, on cancer death rate in the European Union.
Ann Oncol. Published online January 26, 2015.  Abstract

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