Cancers linked to lifestyle still on rise – especially in Scotland

Published on Tuesday 1 July 2008 22:05

CANCERS linked to lifestyle are rising across much of Europe, with Scotland seeing some of the highest rates of the disease, research suggested yesterday.

An analysis of data from 21 European countries found overall cancer rates were improving.

But the researchers found rising rates of cancers related to obesity, such as colorectal and breast cancer, and cancers linked to smoking in women, such as lung cancer.

Scotland had the highest rate of cancer of the oesophagus, which is linked to alcohol and smoking, and also the highest rate of deaths from lung cancer among women.

The study, published in the European Journal of Cancer, found a downward trend in cancers in better-off countries in northern and western Europe.

But the exception was for cancers linked to lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and diet.

For cancer of the oesophagus, cases in Scottish men increased from 11.5 per 100,000 people to 12.1 between 1994 and 2004 – the highest rates among all the countries studied.

Mortality from the cancer – linked to obesity and poor diet – was also highest in Scottish men at 10.7 per 100,000 by 2006. This compared to 2.9 in Finland and 0.9 in Malta.

Lung cancer deaths among Scottish women were the highest in Europe, at 30.8 per 100,000 by 2006, compared to 5.3 in Malta and Spain.

But deaths from breast cancer fell dramatically in Scotland between 1994 and 2006 – from 26.8 per 100,000 to 19.4.

The researchers, led by Prof Jan Coebergh, of the University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, said that cancer prevention and management in Europe was "moving in the right direction".

"Survival increased and mortality decreased through the combination of earlier detection, better access to care and improved treatment.

"Still, cancer prevention efforts have much to attain, especially in the domain of female smoking and the emerging obesity epidemic," they said.