Cancer Incidence in Wales, 2003-2007

The Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit have published detailed incidence cancer statistics for 2007 along with recent trends in cancer incidence for the period 2003-2007 (23rd January 2009).

The main findings are as follows:

There has been a large increase in the total number of male malignancies (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC)) in 2007 at 9363 registrations compared with the previous years. This is an increase of 5% compared with the previous year (8897 registrations – a difference of 466 registrations) and an increase of 7% compared with the average number of registrations in the past three years, 2004-2006.
The majority of this increase in males is attributed to prostate cancer with an increase of 388 registrations (compared with the previous year) at 2552 registrations.
Male lung cancer shows an increasing trend over the past few years whereas previously there had been a decreasing trend. However, the European Age Standardised Rate is lower in 2007 compared with 2003 and 2004 indicating that more cases in the elderly were recorded in 2007 compared with 2003 and 2004.
Other male cancers which show large increases in incidence in 2007 compared to previous years include colon and rectum cancer, malignant melanoma of skin, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
New bladder cancer coding rules were implemented for those bladder cases diagnosed in 2007 according to the United Kingdom Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR). Hence, figures for bladder cancer diagnosed in 2007 will be lower than those of previous years.
There has been an increase of 110 registrations for all female malignancies excluding NMSC in 2007 compared with 2006 at 8415 registrations.
Female cancers which show large increases in incidence compared to previous years include colon and rectum cancer and cancer of the corpus uteri.
Female lung cancer incidence has slightly decreased in 2007 compared with 2006 but is still above the number diagnosed in 2005.
Overall EASR has decreased in 2007 for females compared with 2006 whereas for males there has been an increase of 3% (compared to the 5% increase in numbers).

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	Cancer Incidence in Wales, 2003-2007 ( 121 KB)	23/01/09

Last updated: 28/09/2010