Forecast: in 2012, one million residents of the EU face death from cancer
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Almost 1 300 000 citizens of the European Union states will die from various cancers in 2012. Nevertheless, the death rate from oncology in Europe will continue to decline. This forecast was made by a group of scientists from Italy and Switzerland on the basis of statistical data on cancer mortality in the EU between 1970 and 2007 and information from the European Commission on the expected rate of population growth in European countries. Their work was published on February 29 in the journal Annals of Oncology.
This year, the authors of the study predict, 717 thousand 398 men and 565 thousand 703 women die from cancer in the EU. Although the absolute figures of mortality are higher than five years ago, which is related to the general process of population aging, the authors of the work note, compared to 2007, the mortality rate for men is expected to decline by 10%, and among women - by 7%.
Men are 20% less likely to die from stomach cancer, 11% less often from leukemia, 10% from lung and prostate cancer and 7% from colon cancer. As for women, a 23% reduction in mortality from stomach cancer is expected here , 12% from leukemia, 11% from cancer of the uterus and rectum and 9% from breast cancer. The most favorable situation for breast cancer is predicted for young women - the authors of the study expect that in 2012 the death rate from this disease among this population will be reduced by 17%. This forecast scientists spread to all EU countries, except Poland.
At the same time, the authors of the study do not predict a reduction in mortality from pancreatic cancer and expect a seven percent increase in mortality among women from lung cancer. This is especially true in the UK and Poland, where lung cancer death rates are the highest in Europe - 21.4 and 16.9 per 100,000 women, respectively. In Spain, where women are the least likely to die from lung cancer, this indicator is 6.8.
British experts referring to the Daily Mail suggest that such a high incidence of lung cancer among Britons (more than 39 thousand cases diagnosed in the UK annually) is associated with the advertising policy of tobacco companies immediately after the Second World War, which made women the main target of cigarette advertising.
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