Shock rise in number of Scots women dying of lung cancer

Published on Tuesday 27 October 2009 21:30

THE number of women dying in Scotland from lung cancer has increased dramatically in the last ten years, figures released yesterday revealed.

A report by the Scottish NHS found that female deaths from lung cancer have increased by more than 11 per cent between 1998 and 2008.

The statistics showed a total of 15,211 people died from cancer last year and also demonstrated a connection between certain cancers and personal income, with cervical cancer more common among poorer women and breast cancer more common among the wealthy.

Elspeth Atkinson from cancer charity Macmillan Cancer Support, believes that smoking is the single most preventable cause of lung cancer.

She said: "One of the reasons why lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer is that it is often diagnosed at a late stage.

"We are urging people to visit their doctor if they have any symptoms. These can include a persistent cough, breathlessness, coughing up blood, unexplained weight loss and chest pain."

The updated 2008 figures show that wealthy Scots suffering from cancer are 75 per cent less likely to die of it once diagnosed than those from a poor background.

But while poorer Scots are far more likely on average to contract cancer, middle-class people are far more likely to suffer specific cancers of the prostate, skin and breast.

In its annual cancer mortality report, the Scottish NHS found that people living in the poorest areas have cancer rates 40 percent higher than those in the wealthiest areas and are also far more likely to suffer from smoking related cancers of the lungs, mouth and throat.

A similar picture is found for prostate cancer in men. Although death rates are similar in rich and poor areas, the disease is more commonly found in less deprived areas.

While experts partially blame lifestyle choices for these discrepancies, they also point to the variable take up of early detection programmes such as cervical screening and prostate PSA checks among the different income groups.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "As with many other illnesses, cancer mortality is greater in deprived areas.

"These health inequalities are unacceptable and we are taking a wide range of measures to combat excess drinking, making cigarettes less attractive and less available to young people, and encouraging other healthy lifestyle choices."

"Age-standardised" death rates – the number of people in each age category dying of cancer – have fallen, but the actual number of deaths caused by cancer has gone up in the last ten years.

Officials put this down to an increasingly elderly population and the fact that cancer is relatively common among the elderly.

The rise in female lung cancer bucks the trend for death rates from other types of cancer, all of which are going down.

Over the ten years to 2008, bowel cancer death rates among both men and women fell by 16 per cent and breast cancer deaths in women fell by 13 per cent.

Prostate cancer deaths were down by 12 per cent and lung cancer deaths in men went down by 21 per cent but increased by more than 11 per cent in women.

Taking all cancers combined, "age-standardised" cancer mortality rates have decreased by about 7 per cent over the ten-year period from 1998-2008.

The cancers that account for the greatest number of deaths in Scotland are cancers of the lung (4,080), colorectal (1,565), breast (1,050) and oesophagus (831).