A study reveals that residents of disadvantaged districts across the Channel and those of more affluent neighborhoods are not on an equal footing when it comes to the risk of dying from cancer. Like in France.
- According to a study carried out in England, although the risk of dying from cancer before the age of 80 decreased overall for both sexes between 2002 and 2019, it was however 70% higher in the most affected districts by poverty than in the least affected.
- “The greatest inequality between regions was for cancers with risk factors such as smoking, alcohol and obesity, and for those that could be prevented or detected early through screening.”
- In France, a 2021 study had already found that residents of disadvantaged areas were twice as likely to die from cancer as those in privileged neighborhoods
“While our study provides the good news that the risk of dying from cancer has fallen overall in all English districts over the past twenty years, it highlights the astonishing inequalities in cancer deaths among different districts in England.”
A team of researchers from Imperial College London, led by Professor Majid Ezzati, has just revealed that the probability of developing a fatal cancer could vary significantly depending on where you live, a marker of inequalities social – something which had already been observed in France by a 2021 study.
Differences in cancer mortality between the richest and poorest areas
To reach these conclusions, published in The Lancet Oncology, the study used death records between 2002 and 2019 in the 314 districts of England existing at the time. Using a statistical model, they estimated, for each year and each neighborhood, the risk of dying before the age of 80 from one of the ten main types of cancer. The researchers also took into account, in each district, the share of the population receiving social benefits (due to unemployment or too low income) in order to determine the link between poverty and cancer risk.
Result, if the risk of dying from cancer before the age of 80 decreased for both sexes between 2002 and 2019, the research points to the differences in cancer mortality between the richest and poorest regions . In 2019, the risk of fatal cancer varies as follows “from one in 10 in Westminster to one in six in Manchester for women, and from one in eight in Harrow to one in five in Manchester for men, with the highest risk in northern cities such as Liverpool , Manchester, Hull and Newcastle, and in coastal areas east of London”can we read in a communicated.
“Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death, is associated with poverty”
“The risk of dying from cancer was 70% higher in the districts most affected by poverty [par rapport aux moins touchés], summarizes researcher Theo Rashid, lead author of the study. This is partly linked to the fact that the risk of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death, is strongly associated with poverty.
“The greatest inequality between regions was for cancers with risk factors such as smoking, alcohol and obesity, and for those that could be prevented or detected early by screening programs”continues the scientist, who invites the authorities to strengthen public health policies to fight against these scourges, and to communicate more about the preventive benefit of getting tested.
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