FACTBOX - Cancer deaths in Europe
A study on deaths from cancer in Europe shows a steady decline in death rates between the periods 1990-1994 and 2000-2004 with deaths from all cancers falling by nine percent in men and eight percent in women.
Here are details of the death rates from particular cancers.
* MOUTH AND PHARYNX:
– Overall male mortality declined by about 10 percent, but death rates increased in women. Tobacco smoking and alcohol are the major risk factors for these cancers, accounting for more than 80 percent of cases. “Countries like France and Italy, which had the highest alcohol consumption up to the early 1980s, but where alcohol drinking has substantially declined, showed favourable trends in oral cancer mortality … whereas male trends were less favourable in most countries from northern Europe, where alcohol drinking has increased,” the authors wrote.
* TRACHEA, BRONCHUS AND LUNG:
– Deaths from lung cancer in EU men have declined overall. They fell by 17 percent in men from 1995 to 2004, but over the same period they rose by 27 percent in women.
