A cancer charity has warned that significantly more men are dying from prostate cancer in some parts of England than others, with five parliamentary constituencies having death rates 25 per cent above the average.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the country’s death rate average for prostate cancer was 25 deaths per 100,000 people in 2007.

However, figures show that men living in Tottenham, north London, are almost five times more likely to die of prostate cancer than men in south east Cambridgeshire, with a death rate of 57 deaths per 100,000 people.

This is the equivalent of 131 per cent above the England average.

After analysing the ONS figures, the Prostate Cancer Charter for Action is warning that the survival of men with the disease is a result of a postcode lottery and many parts of the country are not implementing key guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

Spokesman and consultant urologist Dr Frank Chinegwundoh said: “The failure of the NHS to implement NICE’s improving outcomes guidance is partly responsible for these widening inequalities.

“We look to the government and the NHS to ensure that this crucial guidance is implemented in full, so that the care prostate cancer patients receive is no longer left to chance.”

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