Cancer: the four serial killers… and the others!

[17 February 2005 - 00h00]
[mis à jour le 17 February 2005 à 09h40]

Last year, cancer killed 1.7 million Europeans, and 2.9 million new cases were diagnosed. Appalling figures, but ones that could rise still further in the coming years given the ageing of the population.

This was the conclusion of the authors of a study conducted by the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, covering 25 countries. The results are published today in the journal, Annals of Oncology.

Four serial killers are alone responsible for over half the deaths caused by cancer in Europe: cancer of the lungs, colon and rectum, breast and stomach. Lung cancer is still the main type diagnosed and… the most deadly. While it represents 13.2% of cases, it is also responsible for 20% of deaths from cancer. In more than nine out of every ten cases, smoking is the cause. “While progress has been observed among men, smoking by women and in particular by young women is posing a problem in Europe”.

To such an extent that in some countries, female mortality from lung cancer is rising exponentially. In recent years, specialists have observed a “catching-up phenomenon”. This can be explained by the fact that women started smoking later than men. The result is that in some countries, for instance the United States, mortality from broncho-pulmonary cancer now exceeds that associated with breast cancer.

But the latter is still the most frequent female cancer. In Europe, it accounts for 27.4% of cancers affecting women. In 2004, it claimed almost 130 000 deaths. The authors underline the fact, however, that there has been “progress in screening”, which can be continued only if there are “joint efforts by European countries”.

A little lower down in the scale is colorectal cancer. Like lung cancer, it represents 13% of cases in Europe, but “only” 11% of deaths. The incidence of stomach cancer is falling. In the past twenty years, the frequency of the latter fell by half in Europe. But it is still responsible for 8.1% of deaths.

Lastly, cancer of the prostate is the one most diagnosed in men in 2004. In all, 238000 new cases were identified, which all the same represents 15.5% of male cancer cases. Source: Annals of Oncology, 17 February 2004 - Photo Stanford Cancer Center

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