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Lifestyle changes blamed for cancer rises

03/07/2008

Increases in skin and breast cancer cases in the last 60 years have been blamed on lifestyle changes by cancer experts.

The claim comes as statistics comparing cancer cases now and 60 years ago, when the NHS was founded, are published by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN).

The potentially fatal form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, has seen a "shocking increase". Incidence rates in men have shot up 13-fold since 1948, even allowing for the population increase, while the rate in women has gone up six-fold.

"Experts say such a rise in incidence can be partially attributed to the package holiday explosion that began in the 1960s allowing tens of thousands to holiday in the sun for the first time. Sunburn doubles the risk of skin cancer," Cancer Research and the NCIN say.

Estimated breast cancer figures have risen from around 10,000 in 1948 to in excess of 40,000 today. Having fewer children later in life may be to blame for this, the research finds.

The overall number of cancer cases is believed to have risen since the NHS' establishment 60 years ago. Despite this survival rates have also increased.

Those diagnosed with colon cancer in 1998 faced a 47 per cent chance of survival, compared with 18 per cent in 1948, while breast cancer survival has increased from 37 per cent to 77 per cent.

Cancer Research UK chief executive Harpal Kumar said: "The improvement in cancer survival, over the years, is a testament to the world class research that has resulted in earlier diagnosis and better treatments for patients.

"But we must not be complacent; we want to see further improvements in survival in the future as we improve our ability to detect cancer early and as treatments become increasingly tailored to individual patients."