Regional health differences increase cancer risk

Up to 14,000 cases in England could be stopped if everyone was as healthy as the top 20% in the country, a study found.

Unhealthy lifestyles - which include smoking and obesity - are known to increase the risk of cancer.

But people from poorer backgrounds are also more likely to suffer from late diagnosis and inequalities in the treatments offered to them.

They are also less likely to attend cancer screening programmes in their area.

Parts of the country identified by the Government as deprived include Wakefield, Barnsley, Cumbria, Northumberland, Birmingham, Bolton, County Durham, Rochdale, Salford and large areas in London.

A report from the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) today found men were more likely to suffer the effects of deprivation than women.

There are 21% more cancer cases among men in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived.

The gap between women was narrower, at 11%.

Poorer patients of both sexes were more likely to suffer a range of cancers compared with their richer counterparts.

They were more likely to have cancer of the lung, head and neck, oesophageal, bladder, cervical, stomach and liver.

But richer people are more likely to have malignant melanoma, breast and prostate cancers.

Chris Carrigan, head of the NCIN, said: “Although men are generally more likely to get cancer, much of the difference we see here is down to lung cancer - the most common cause of cancer death.

“It accounts for a bigger proportion of men’s cancers than women’s cancers.”

He said people are generally more likely to smoke or be obese in the most deprived areas.