Number of new cancer cases in England continues to rise: study

LONDON - Cancer cases in England are being recorded at the rate of 828 new cases every day, a study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed Monday.

ONS said the number of new cases of cancer in England is continuing to rise, and in 2016 there were 303,135 cancers registered.

The statistics show that despite the increasing trend in cancer incidence over time, fewer people are dying from cancer in England. And more cancers were registered in males (155,019) than females (148,116).

Breast (15.2 percent), prostate (13.4 percent), lung (12.7 percent) and colorectal (11.5 percent) cancers continue to account for over half (nearly 53 percent) of the cancer registrations in England for all age groups.

Breast cancer has been the most frequently diagnosed cancer in England since 1996 when the number of new diagnoses first exceeded those for lung cancer. In 2016, more than 45,000 women in England were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Prostate cancer was the most common cancer diagnosed in males in 2016, with 40,489 cases registered, which accounted for one in four (26.1 percent) male malignant cancer registrations.

The figures show cancer is primarily a disease of older people, with adults aged 65 years and over accounting for two-thirds of the total cancers registered in 2016.

The average rate of cancer incidence in England was 593.2 per 100,000 people, but this varied across the country. London, which stands at 556.7 per 100,000, has the lowest level, while the highest average of 630.3 per 100,000 people is in North East England.