It is estimated that, only in 2023, there will be 1,261,990 cancer deaths throughout the European Union. The good news is that overall cancer death rates are expected to decline overall. The bad news, according to a new study published in Annals of Oncologythe thing is some of these cancers will kill more people in the coming years in countries such as France, Italy and Spain.
This is what the researchers led by a professor at the University of Milan Carlo La Vecchia say: by the end of the year, cancer mortality rates will have experienced a drop of 6.5% in men and 3.7% in women in compared to 2018. However, female mortality will increase by 3.4%, up to six cases per 100,000 for pancreatic cancer, and 1% for lung cancer, up to 13.6 cases per 100,000.
After specifically analyzing lung cancer mortality rates in five EU countries and the UK, it was estimated that mortality in women will increase by almost 14% in France, 5.6% in Italy and 5% in Spain. While is true that mortality will decrease in women between 25 and 64 years of ageit has been identified that the increase will occur in the groups of 65 to 75 years, and from 75. The result will be an overall rate increase.
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According to the researchers, these differences are due to at the time of quitting. Women between the ages of 45 and 65 have used less tobacco. However, the older ones came to smoke until 20 more years on average, starting in the 1970s, when smoking was more common among young women. It should be noted that in the United Kingdom there would be a drop of 13.8% of mortality from lung cancer in women, but starts from a base higher than that of the EU: 16.2 cases per 100,000. Kills more British women than breast cancerwith mortality rates of 13.5 per 100,000.
This study “emphasizes the importance of certain social habits in the incidence of some types of cancer, such as smoking or poor eating habits and little physical exercise that lead to obesity,” he declared to SMC Spain Xosé R. Bustelo, CSIC research professor, vice-director of the Cancer Research Center, Salamanca, and former president of ASEICA. “AND, in the case of Spain, that message is clear: It is one of the few countries where lung cancer deaths in women are predicted to increase in age ranges that are consistent with the frequency of female smokers.”
“This, perhaps, is the main message: there are many causes of cancer that we cannot avoid, since they arise from genetic errors in our cells that are generally associated with age, but there are many others that are avoidable, such as smoking.” continue. “The campaigns being carried out by scientific oncology and patient associations on the importance of increase restrictions on tobacco use; Only then can we significantly lower the rates of appearance of some cancers.”
Fewer cancer deaths
For this study, the researchers looked at cancer death rates in the 27 member countries of the European Union combined plus the United Kingdom. They also specifically analyzed the five most populous EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain), and some cancers individually, such as stomach, intestinal, pancreatic, lung, breast, uterine, ovarian, prostate, bladder and leukemia cancers.
La Vecchia and his collaborators predict that, globally, the mortality rate from ten most common cancers will continue to fall in most European countries this year. However, the number of people dying will increase due to the aging population. The greater the proportion of elderly, the greater the number of cases, since the risk of developing cancer cells increases with age.
Compared to the peak of cancer mortality in 1988, the researchers estimate that almost 5.9 million deaths will have been averted in the last 35 years in the EU, more another 1.24 million in the United Kingdom. And there could be a additional mortality reduction of 35% by 2035, they calculate, as more and more people quit smoking. It would be necessary to increase the prevention of risk factors such as overweight, obesity, diabetes, alcohol consumption and infections, in addition to improving detection, early diagnosis and treatment.
For his part, he Colorectal cancer It will be the third leading cause of death among women from the EU and the United Kingdom, with between 8 and 10 cases per 100,000 women respectively. He prostate cancer be the third leading cause of death among menwith 9.5 and 11.2 cases per 100,000 in the EU and the United Kingdom.
Finally, the researchers clarify that their estimates have not taken into account the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, since it was declared after the data was collected. “The pandemic may have an effect on cancer mortality in 2023 as it occurs delays in results and other procedureswhich can influence both the prevention and treatment of cancer disease,” they conclude as a warning.
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