UK cancer statistics

This section has up-to-date statistics on cancer incidence and survival in the UK.

• New cases of cancer in the UK
• Which cancers are most common?
• Are rates of the most common cancers different among UK countries?
• Do rates of cancer differ by geographical region in England?
• What are the five-year survival rates for these cancers?
• Do 5 year survival rates differ by geographical region in England?
• How have cancer incidence rates in England changed between 1998 and 2007?
• What has caused the changes in rates of new cancer?

Reference and related links

• National Statistics Online (England)
• ISD Cancer Information Programme (Scotland)
• N. Ireland Cancer Registry
• Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit
• Relative survival from cancer in English regions, 2001-03

New cases of cancer in 2007 in the UK

In 2007, there were nearly 300,000 new cases of cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) diagnosed in the UK. The figure below shows that in 2007 cancer rates (per 100,000 people) were highest in Wales for men and in Scotland for women. The lowest rates for both men and women were in England. Rates are also higher in men compared with women.

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Which cancers are most common?

The ten top cancers in men and women in the UK in 2007 are shown in the charts below. The most common cancers in men were prostate, lung , and bowel.  The most common cancers in women were breast, lung and bowel. Overall these cancers count for around 50 per cent of all new cases (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer).

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Are rates of the most common cancers different among UK countries?

The top three cancers are the same for each country. The most common cancer in men is prostate. However Scotland has the lowest rate of prostate cancer than the other countries. Scotland has the highest rate of lung cancer. Rates of bowel cancer are similar across the countries. In women breast cancer is the most common cancer in all countries. The rate of lung cancer is higher in Scotland than for the other countries. Rates of bowel cancer are similar across the countries.

 

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Do rates of cancer differ by geographical region in England?

The figures below show the cancer rates for the different geographical regions of England. In men the overall cancer rate was about 10 per cent higher in the north-east and north-west compared with the south-east, London and the east. In women the overall cancer rate was about 10 per cent higher in the north-west and south-west compared with London, the east and south-east.

 

The figures below show the rates for the most common cancers. For prostate cancer the highest rate was in the south-west, which is 26 per cent higher than in the north-east.The rate was similar across the other regions of England.

For breast cancer the highest rate was in the south-west, which is about 20 per cent higher than in London and the north-east. The rate was similar across the other regions of England.

For lung cancer, for men, the highest rate was in the north-east, which is about 70 per cent higher than the south-east and south-west. For women, the highest rate was in the north-east, nearly double the rate in the south-west, south-east and east. For both men and women the rate tends to increase as you move from south to north across the country.

For bowel cancer, for men, the highest rate was in the north-east, which is 43 per cent higher than for London. The rate in the west midlands and north-west was about 20 per cent higher than for London. For women, the highest rate was in the north-east, which is 19 per cent higher than for London. There was less variation across the country for women compared with men.

 

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What are the 5-year survival rates for these cancers?

The tables below show age standardised survival rates for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The highest survival rates were for breast and prostate cancer. Survival rates at 5 years were less than 10 per cent for lung cancer. Survival varies by cancer type, and for each cancer, by a number of factors including sex, age and socio-economic status.

Men

	Scotland 2000-2004	England* 2001-2003	Northern Ireland 1997-2000
Prostate	80.1%	77.9%	64.5%
Bowel	54.9%	49.0%	51.9%
Lung	7.0%	6.5%	9.1%

Women

	Scotland 2000-2004	England* 2001-2003	Northern Ireland 1997-2000
Breast	83.7%	81.6%	80.1%
Bowel	53.9%	50.4%	53.1%
Lung	7.8%	8.4%	9.2%

* Figures for colon cancer

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Do 5 year survival rates differ by geographical region in England?

The figures below show the 5 year survival rates for the most common cancers for the different regions of England.

For prostate cancer the highest survival rate was the west midlands, London and north-west, which is about 15 per cent higher than in the east midlands.

For breast cancer the survival rates were similar across the country.

For lung cancer the survival rates were similar across the country for men and women.

For bowel cancer the survival rates did not differ much across the country but were lowest in London and the East Midlands for men and women.

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How have cancer incidence rates in England changed between 1998 and 2007?

In England overall, the rate of new cases diagnosed remained the same for men at 404 per 100,000 people and rose by three one per cent for women from 342 to 352 per 100,000 people over the period.

The figures below show the trends for the five most common cancers in men and women.

Men
The rate of new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed rose 35 per cent. There was a 20 per cent fall for lung cancer and a 32 per cent fall for bladder cancer. There was little change for bowel cancer and lymphomas.

Women
The rate of new cases of breast, bowel and lung cancers were similar in 1998 and 2007. New cases of endometrial cancer rose by 36 per cent. There was also a small fall (16 per cent) in ovarian cancer.

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What has caused the changes in cancer incidence rates?

The increase in new cases of prostate cancer is largely due to greater awareness and use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. The effect of PSA testing on mortality is not known, as this will depend on whether detection results in more successful treatment.

The fall in lung and bladder cancers cases in men is due to a decrease in the prevalence of smoking.

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