Press Release

Page last updated: 6-SEP-2005

Press Release

Thursday 06 September 2005 (0930h)   
An update of incidence and mortality for patients with cancer in Scotland is published on the web today.
These statistics are published by NHS National Services Scotland, Information Services (ISD) and are available at the following address:   http://www.isdscotland.org/cancer

The updated figures show cancer incidence (1980-2002) and mortality (1980-2004) for each cancer site and replace information previously available on the ISD Scotland website.

Key points:

  • Around 12,700 males and 13,300 females were diagnosed with cancer (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) in 2002.  These figures are higher than in 2001 and are expected to rise further due to the continuing accrual of late registrations.
  • Over the last decade (1992-2002) age-standardised incidence of cancer has fallen steadily in men (significant 8% decrease) but has remained unchanged in women1.  Age-standardised mortality, however, has fallen in both sexes over the last 10 years (1994-2004), with significant 12% and 6% decreases in men and women respectively.
  • Lung cancer is the most common cancer in men and the second most common cancer in women.  The long-term decline in men has continued with significant falls of 27% in both incidence and mortality for the most recent 10-year periods available (1992-2002 for incidence and 1994-2004 for mortality).  In women, however, incidence continues to rise with a significant 5% increase over the most recent ten years whilst mortality is unchanged.
  • Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.  Incidence continues to rise with a significant 8% increase over ten years 1992-2002. However, mortality is falling with a significant 18% fall between 1994 and 2004.
  • Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men.  Incidence continues to rise with a significant 20% rise in the last ten years (1992-2002).  Mortality, however, is falling with a significant 8% fall between 1994 and 2004.
  • Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women.  Incidence in men has increased significantly by 6% over the last ten years (1992-2002), whilst mortality has decreased significantly by 15% between 1994 and 2004.  In women, incidence is unchanged whilst mortality has fallen significantly by 23% between 1994 and 2004.
  • Malignant melanoma of the skin is the 10th most common cancer in men and the 5th most common in women.  Incidence continues to increase significantly in both men and women with rises of 45% and 21% respectively over the last ten years (1992-2002).  Mortality is relatively low (93 deaths in men and 58 in women in 2004) but is rising steeply in men with a significant increase of 31% between 1994 and 2004.
  • The decline in bladder cancer incidence since 1997 is an artefact due to a change in coding practice across cancer registries in the UK.  Around a quarter of bladder tumours are no longer coded as invasive bladder cancers.  This also impacts on the figures for all cancers.

1  All ten-year changes in incidence and mortality have been estimated using Poisson regression on the European age-standardised rates.

Background information

1.  Although cancer registrations are believed to be essentiallycomplete(>95%) for the year 2002, it is important to note that the cancer registration database is dynamic.  In common with cancer registries in other countries, cancer incidence rates in Scotland can take up to five years after the end of a given calendar year to reach 100% completeness and stability due to the continuing accrual of late registrations coming to light, for example through death certification.  At this stage, it may be misleading to focus too much attention on any apparent changes in incidence between 2001 and 2002.  It is more informative to examine trends in incidence observed over a number of years.  Striking changes from one year to the next may occur in the case of rare cancers, but these are likely to reflect random fluctuation caused by small numbers of cases - in such cases, it is even more important to examine incidence rates for a number of years aggregated together, rather than focusing on a single year of incidence.

2.  Data on cancer incidence was previously published from 1975 onwards and data on cancer mortality from 1979 onwards.  Data for both incidence and mortality are now published from 1980 onwards.   Earlier data is available on request.
 
3.  This is an ISD National Statistics release. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards and adhere to codes of practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

4.  ISD Scotland is a division of NHS National Service Scotland.  ISD collects, collates and maintains a wide range of health service data sets, which form the national corporate database for NHSScotland. By providing information, statistical services and effective use of information management and technology, ISD contributes to health improvement by informing decision-making, research and debate within the NHSScotland, government departments and other organisations. 

For more information about ISD Scotland see the website at: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/


Further information is available from:

Roger Black
Head of Epidemiology and Statistics Group
Phone: 0131 275 6064
Mail to: Roger.Black@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

Fiona Campbell
Principal Statisitician, Epidemiology and Statistics Group
Phone: 0131 275 6125
Mail to: Fiona.Campbell@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

 


Main contact: Email Fiona Campbell