Comment: A wake-up call on cancer risk

Apr 8 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL already has one of the highest mortality rates from cancer in the country, with lung cancer accounting for just under a third of deaths every year.

However, other factors such as obesity and poor diet are also contributing to the city’s disproportionate showing in cancer rates.

But another underlying reason is revealed today, with the Merseyside region having some of the lowest uptake rates for cancer testing.

Department of Health statistics reveal a 68.4% take-up rate in Liverpool, compared to 72% in Sefton, 77% in Halton and St Helens, 80% in West Cheshire and 81.2% in Wirral.

As with so much else, the problem of poor take-up rates increases the more socially deprived an area is.

In a bid to counter this effect, Liverpool PCT is working to both increase take-up rates of screening and make people aware of causes of cancer.

Action on prevention will include a continued focus on lifestyle factors including reducing smoking, obesity, excessive alcohol intake, sun awareness and awareness raising of lifestyle factors contributing to cancer.

The latest figures should be seen against the background of the region’s NHS bracing itself for an upsurge in cancer cases.

Figures seen by the Liverpool Daily Post show the number of cases of cancer diagnosed in the North West annually is expected to rise by 37% between now and 2018, from 35,470 to 48,690.

Liverpool is expected to be among the worst places hit in the NW by the increase in cancer cases, as its general death rate is higher than the rest of the region. The city’s high mortality rate means an extra 350 people die of cancer each year when compared to the national average.

These shocking figures should, in themselves, prompt the PCT to re-double its efforts to increase take-up rates. But they should also force people to wake up to the need to attend cancer screenings at the earliest opportunity, as prevention is always better than cure.