Cancer death rates among middle-aged Britons ‘have fallen by a third since the early 1990s’

The number of people dying from cancer in middle age has fallen by a third in 25 years, new research shows.

Death rates from the disease among 35- to 69-year-olds have fallen sharply due to screening, better treatments and the decline in smoking rates.

But as deaths among this age group fall, experts warned there is a worrying rise in cases, fueled by new health problems such as obesity.

The Cancer Research UK study shows that improvements in survival rates are declining while the incidence of cancer is increasing, with a 57 percent increase in men and a 48 percent increase in women over the past quarter of a century.

In 1993, around 55,014 cases of cancer were recorded in men, but this rose to 86,297 in 2018, while in women the increase was from 60,187 to 88,970, according to the findings published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

These increases were mainly driven by increases in prostate and breast cancer, partly due to testing and screening, although there were also ‘concerning’ increases in melanoma, liver, mouth and kidney cancers, they said.

While cancer rates are increasing due to a growing population, factors such as obesity, drinking too much and being inactive play a role, they said.

Cancer Research UK said that if action is taken against smoking, overweight, obesity and alcohol, almost 37,000 cases of cancer could be prevented by 2040.

According to the study, four cancers (liver, melanoma, oral and kidney cancers) showed a “substantial increase in incidence” of more than 2 percent per year in both sexes over the 25 years.

The researchers said these are linked to known lifestyle factors, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, sun exposure and being overweight or obese.

‘The increase in the incidence and mortality of liver cancer in both men and women is of great concern, with almost one in two attributable to modifiable risk factors,’ they say.

‘With the high prevalence of overweight, obesity and diabetes in the general population, other studies expect the numbers to remain high.’

There are 13 types of cancer associated with being overweight or obese, including stomach, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, breast, uterine, ovarian, kidney and thyroid cancer.

Meanwhile, alcohol has been linked to seven types of cancer, including mouth, throat, larynx, esophageal, breast and colon cancer.

Researchers used UK data to examine trends in men and women aged 35 to 69 who were recently diagnosed with or died from cancer between 1993 and 2018.

The research shows that overall mortality rates have fallen by 37 percent for men and 33 percent for women over the past 25 years, taking into account the growing and aging population.

Elsewhere, the cervical cancer death rate fell by 54 percent, due to NHS cervical cancer screening and the introduction of a vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cervical cancer.

Death rates for lung cancer also fell, by 53 percent in men and 21 percent in women, thanks to the decline in smoking rates.

Decreases were also seen in stomach, mesothelioma and bladder cancers in men, and in stomach and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in women.

Jon Shelton, head of cancer intelligence at Cancer Research UK and lead author of the study, said: ‘This study helps us see what progress we have made in beating cancer and where challenges clearly remain.

‘With cancer rates rising and survival rates declining, it is vital that the UK government takes bold action to keep the momentum going…

‘We must continue to prevent as many cases of cancer as possible, diagnose cancer earlier and develop kinder treatments.’

Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘This major study brings to life improvements that have been made in recent decades to tackle cancer.

‘If we take lung cancer for example, we can clearly see that reducing the number of smokers saves lives.

‘The UK Government can build on this success by raising the age for tobacco sales and continuing to fund a world-leading program of measures to help people who smoke to quit.

‘But cancer is still a defining health problem in Britain, affecting almost one in two people.

‘People are having to wait a long time for essential tests and treatment, and the number of cancer cases is increasing.

‘Cancer patients will not fully benefit from advances in research and innovation breakthroughs, including new cancer treatments, without a long-term plan and funding from the UK Government.’