Cases are rising due to factors such as obesity, but fewer middle-aged people are dying from cancer than at any point in the past 25 years, researchers say.
A new study by Cancer Research UK and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has found that death rates from the disease have fallen for those aged 35 to 69, thanks to screening, better treatments and policies aimed at quitting smoking.
However, the UK-wide study warns that improvements in survival rates are slowing, with cancer cases rising by 57% in men and 48% in women over a 25-year period.
While around 55,014 cancer cases were recorded in men in 1993, this number increased to 86,297 in 2018, and from 60,187 to 88,970 in women.
The researchers said the increases were partly due to increases in prostate and breast cancer thanks to tests and screenings, but there were also “worrying” increases in melanoma, liver, mouth and kidney cancers.
While cancer cases are increasing due to the increasing population, it has been stated that factors such as obesity, heavy drinking and inactivity also play a role.
Cancer Research UK said that approximately 37,000 cancer cases could be prevented by 2040 if measures were taken against smoking, being overweight, obesity and alcohol.
According to the study, four cancers (liver, melanoma, mouth and kidney) showed “incidence increases” of more than 2% per year in both genders over 25 years.
These are linked to known lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking, sun exposure and being overweight or obese, the researchers said.
“Increases in liver cancer incidence and mortality for both men and women are very concerning; almost one in two is attributable to modifiable risk factors,” they said.
“Since the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and diabetes is high in the general population, other studies expect rates to remain high.”
Being overweight or obese can cause 13 types of cancer, including stomach, intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, breast, uterus, ovarian, kidney and thyroid.
Meanwhile, alcohol has been linked to seven types of cancer, including mouth, upper throat, larynx, esophagus, breast and bowel cancer.
The study found that overall death rates fell by 37% for men and 33% for women over 25 years, given the growing and aging population.
Success is being noted against individual cancers.
For example, cervical cancer death rates dropped by 54%; This reflects NHS cervical screening and the rollout of a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes the majority of cases of cervical cancer.
Thanks to the decline in the number of smokers, lung cancer death rates fell by 53% in men and 21% in women.
Decreases were also noted in stomach, mesothelioma and bladder cancers in men, and 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 the progress we have made in beating cancer, and that challenges clearly remain.
“With cancer cases rising and survival rates slowing, it is vital that the UK Government takes bold action to maintain this momentum…
“We must continue to prevent as many cases of cancer as possible, detect cancers earlier and develop better treatments.”
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “This major study brings to life improvements in the fight against cancer that have been made in recent years.
“If we take lung cancer for example, we can clearly see that reducing smoking frequency saves lives.
“The UK Government can build on this success by raising the age at which tobacco can be sold and continuing to fund a world-leading program of measures to help smokers quit.
“But cancer is still a defining health problem, affecting almost one in two people in the UK.
“People face long waits for vital tests and treatment, and cancer cases are on the rise.
“Cancer patients will not be able to reap the full benefits of breakthroughs in research and advances in innovation, including new cancer treatments, without a long-term plan and funding from the UK Government.”
Health Minister Victoria Atkins said: “I welcome the positive findings of this report. Survival rates are improving for almost all types of cancer, thanks to innovations in technology and treatment, cancer screening programs and measures to help people quit smoking.
“This year we will soon introduce a new law to prevent children aged 15 or younger from legally selling cigarettes or other tobacco products. This is the largest public health intervention in decades, protecting an entire generation and future generations from the harms of smoking.
“But I know challenges remain. That’s why I want to make our healthcare system faster, simpler and fairer and achieve our goal of catching 75% of all cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028.
“Last year, NHS England carried out a record number of cancer tests and we are investing £2.3bn in our network of new local community diagnostic centres, while our soon-to-be-published Baseline Strategy will further improve cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.”
For the study, researchers used UK-wide data to examine trends in men and women aged 35 to 69 who were newly diagnosed with or died from cancer between 1993 and 2018.