About Cancer

More than one in three of us will develop cancer at some point. Few of us go through life without coming into contact with the disease in some way – either through personal experience or through that of a friend or family member.

This section is designed to present concise cancer information for anyone concerned.

Cancer is a disease where cells grow out of control and invade, erode and destroy normal tissue. The driving forces behind the development of cancer are damaged genes. The gene damage is often caused by environmental factors like smoking.

There are over 200 different types of cancer that can occur anywhere in the body. They all have different causes, different symptoms and require different types of treatment. Cancers develop because of a complicated interaction between our genes, our environment and chance.

In Britain, the lifetime risk of developing cancer is more than one in three. So it's likely that every family will come into contact with the disease in some way. Different cancers affect people at different ages, but the risk of getting the disease rises significantly as we get older. Around 65 per cent of cancers in this country occur in people over 65.

More than one in three of us will develop cancer at some time in our lives. Our risk of cancer is influenced by our genes and our environment. Things that increase our chance of developing cancer are commonly called risk factors.

Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get cancer. And not having a risk factor doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t. This section is all about understanding how different risk factors can affect your chance of developing cancer. It can help you make decisions about your lifestyle and take action to cut your risk.

Below is a list of factors that influence our risk of cancer and advice on early detection.

There are around 200 different types of cancer. Some are very common, while others are extremely rare. Cancers of the lung, breast, bowel and prostate account for over half of all new cases, whereas some types of blood cancer make up less than 1 in 100 new cases.

This section has brief information on the most common cancers including risk factors, signs and symptoms, detection and treatment.

Cancer is a disease that affects mainly older people, with 65% of cases occurring in those over 65. As the average life expectancy in the UK has almost doubled since the mid nineteenth century the population at risk of cancer has grown. Death rates from other causes of death, such as heart disease, have fallen in recent years while deaths from cancer have remained relatively stable. The result is that 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime and 1 in 4 people will die from cancer.

There are over 200 different types of cancer but the four major types, lung, breast, prostate and colorectal, account for over half of all cases diagnosed.

Breast: Accounting for nearly 30% of all new female cancers, this is by far the most common cancer in women. In men there are around 250 cases each year. Lung: The most common cancer in men and the third most common in women, lung cancer with its low survival rates is the biggest cancer killer in the UK. On average 94 people die every day from lung cancer in the UK. The most important risk factor is smoking which, it is estimated, causes around 90% of cases. Prostate: This is currently the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer. However, while incidence for lung cancer is decreasing, it is increasing for prostate cancer. Colorectal: Bowel cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK and the second most common cause of cancer death. It predominantly affects older people. Although cancer is largely a disease of old age, in many cases it is preventable. It is estimated that around 1/3 of all cancers are caused by smoking and another 1/3 by diet. Current government data reports that around a quarter of adults smoke.

The incidence, survival and mortality information presented below is based on population data. Survival rates, in particular, should not be used to make a prognosis for an individual patient for two reasons. Firstly, it is based on groups of patients with dissimilar stages of the disease and secondly, because of the need to follow-up for 5 years, it may not reflect any recent advances made in the treatment of any particular cancer.

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