UK cancer figures rise
pharmafile | January 15, 2014 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Cancer, England, NHS, research uk
More people are being diagnosed with cancer than ever before, according to figures from Cancer Research UK – as an ageing population and risk factors such as alcohol consumption and obesity take their toll.
The number of patients receiving a diagnosis in the UK has gone over 330,000 for the first time, its data suggests: to 331,487 people in 2011, compared to 329,547 in 2010.
In 2001 there were 283,000 cases diagnosed so this represents an increase of nearly 50,000 cases in the past decade.
Yet on the flipside of that seemingly gloomy finding is the news that more people are also surviving the disease: in fact survival has doubled in the last 40 years thanks to improvements in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, Cancer Research UK says.
During the 1970s, the first decade that comprehensive figures are available for the British population, 23% of cancer patients survived ten years – but this had risen to 46% by 2007.
“These figures reinforce the vital need for more research to better prevent, treat and cure cancer,” said Dr Harpal Kumar, chief executive of the charity.
“Research is the only way we’ll be able to reduce the devastating impact of the disease. One day we will beat cancer. The more research we do, the sooner that day will come,” he added.
As people live longer, more will develop a form of cancer, which means the figures are likely to rise. Diagnosis rates were up by 35% between 1975 – when around 295 people per 100,000 were diagnosed – and 2011 (400 people per 100,000).
The pharma industry’s development of cancer drugs is not mentioned by the charity but is another factor in increased survival rates.
The sharing of information for research purposes is also important, and Cancer Research UK is among several organisations supporting an advertising campaign highlighting NHS England’s move to allow anonymised patient information to be stored centrally.
“Advances in medical research rely on access to the records of patients,” said Kumar. “The UK is in a unique position in this area because it has more comprehensive data than anywhere else in the world.”
Much of the progress in understanding cancer is based on analysing patient records. “[This is] helping us understand the causes of the disease and increasing our knowledge of how to prevent it as well as finding new ways to diagnose cancer earlier when treatment is more likely to be successful,” he concluded.
Adam Hill
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