A report by the National Cancer Institute (Inca) studying cancers over the past twenty years has just shown that mortality due to Cancer decreased in France. Particularly over the past ten years.
In men, the number of death fell by 22% and among women by 14%. A decrease which would be due to a combination of factors according to Dr Philippe Bousquet, head of the department oversees the INCA “better prevention, diagnosis and improved therapeutic management and finally the impact of screening helped to obtain these figures”.
In addition, it seems that the majority of cancer deaths occur in people aged 65 and over (71%), 50% after 75 years and 20% after 85 years. Good news for the life expectancy of patients.
Other information, we observe that the decline in mortality concerns almost all cancers, all age groups and all regions. In humans, the drop in the death rate is mainly due to the effectiveness of prevention campaigns concerning major risk factors such as alcohol and tobacco.
The only downside raised by the study is the sharp rise in the female death rate from lung cancer. For Dr Philippe Bousquet “this is a special case linked to the increase in smoking among women”. Indeed, the doctor explains that “85% of lung cancers are linked to smoking. The great advice is therefore to stop smoking”.
Are the prevention messages on cigarette packages sufficient? To help you quit smoking, see our “It’s decided, I quit smoking” file.
Thanks to Dr Philippe Bousquet, head of the watch department at the National Cancer Institute.
