“Heartbreaking” data has revealed the shocking truth about cancer survival rates in England. According to a new major study, people living in some parts of the country are up to 70 percent more likely to die from the disease compared to others.
Among the areas most affected are northern cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Hull, as well as some coastal areas. In comparison, wealthy parts of London have the lowest death toll.
Experts have linked this disparity to a number of factors including lifestyle habits like smoking and drinking. However, poor screening uptake, access to treatment and delays to diagnosis were also blamed.
As part of the study, researchers looked at death records from between 2002 and 2019 for the 10 most deadly cancers across 314 regions of England. Based on this they were able to estimate the risk of dying from each cancer before the age of 80, depending on gender and where a person lived.
They found that since 2002, the overall risk of dying from cancer had declined from one in six to one in eight for women. And for men it dropped from one in five to one in six.
But, as reported by the MailOnline, these improvements were not seen equally nationwide.
As an example, one in six women in Manchester are still dying from cancer, compared to one in ten in Westminster, in London.
And one in five men in Manchester are still dying from disease, significantly above one in eight in Harrow, London.
Lead study author Professor Majid Ezzati, from Imperial College London, explained: “Although our study brings the good news that the overall risk of dying from cancer has decreased across all English districts in the last 20 years, it also highlights the astounding inequality in cancer deaths in different districts around England.”
