Lung cancer

1. Lung Cancer

2. Lung Cancer Incidence
 1950s Male/Female ratio 6:1, this is now 7:5. (decreasing
male smoking rates, increasing female smoking rates).
 Approximately 23,000 men and 15,000 women diagnosed with
disease per year
 2nd most common cancer in men (after prostate) 3rd in women
(after breast and bowel)
 UK: Between 1995 and 2004 ,male lung cancer prevalence
decreased by 23%.
 Same 10 year period so almost no change in female rates.
 Males and Females combined: a reduction of incidence rates
of 16%
 13% of all new cases of cancer are lung cancers

3.  UK: 5 year survival (diagnosis during
1999 – 2003) was 6.5% in men and
7.6% in women.
 This is NOT significantly better than for
patients diagnosed a decade or so
earlier.

4. Causes of Lung Cancer
 SMOKING! Over 80% (Association for
international Cancer Research) or 9 out of
10 (Cancer Research UK) are caused by
smoking (passive included)
 Exposure to industrial carcinogens and air
pollution, scarring from previous lung
disease, family history and past cancer
treatment.
 Length of time smoking – as soon as you
stop your risk goes down
 Second hand smoke: double your risk

5. Symptoms
 Difficulty breathing
 Coughing up blood
 Chest pain
 Loss of appetite
 Weight loss
 Fatigue
 Having a cough most of the time
 A change in a cough you have had for a long time
 Short of breath
 Ache or pain when breathing or coughing

6. Types of lung cancer
 Small Cell Lung Cancers (SCLC)
 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers
(NSCLC) –Squamous cell carcinoma, -
adenocarcinoma and – large cell
carcinoma

7. Ethnicity
 UK: South Asians have a lower incidence of lung
cancer than non-South Asians but increasing
incidence has been reported amongst South Asian
men (in contrast to the rest of UK male population
where incidence is declining)
 South Asian Women also have increasing lung
cancer trends but this is in line with the rest of UK
female population.
 USA: lung cancer rates in black population are
higher for both males and females compared with
white population.

8. Socio-Economic Status
 Incidence and Mortality rates – strongly
associated with deprivation.
 1993 England and Wales: Incidence 2.5
times higher in most deprived males
compared to least deprived males – women
difference was greater than 3 times.
 2004 gap between most deprived and most
affluent – 50% (down from 200% in 1981).
 Lung cancer incidence has increased in
more affluent women than deprived women
between 1981 and 2004

9. Age
 Risk increases with age.
 UK: 8 out of 10 cases occur in people
aged 60+

10. Regional Differences
 UK: clear north/south divide.
 High lung cancer rates in Scotland and
Northern England.
 Scottish men and women have among
highest rates in world reflecting the country’s
history of high smoking prevalence
 Incidence rates in Scotland particularly high
in densely populated belt from Glasgow in
the west to Edinburgh in the east.
 Higher rates in urban areas.

11. Around the World
 Highest rates of lung cancer in women – N.
America and Northern Europe
 Highest rate of lung cancer in men –
Europe, especially central and eastern
Europe and N. America.
 In Europe – highest male rates are Hungary
and Poland – Lowest in Sweden and Malta.
 Lowest incidence rates in men and women
are found in African and Asian countries.

12. Data Sources
 Easily accessible
 Regularly Updates
 Lots of info. On UK and World
 Easy to use without knowing fully how
accurate/representative they are
 Differences in recording systems (especially
important when comparing countries), may define
key terms or key criteria differently affecting the
results.
 Do we really know how data is collected and what
its original purpose was?

13. Data Sources
 http://www.aicr.org.uk/lungcancerfaqs.stm?s
ource=Adwords
 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?i
d=1657
 http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.as
p?page=2962
 http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/
types/lung/incidence/,
 http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/
types/lung/