Posted 28 January 2020 - 09:55
Posted 28 January 2020 - 09:55
News
Prostate cancer overtakes breast cancer as most diagnosed
Prostate cancer has overtaken breast cancer in England as the most diagnosed form of the disease as more men seek check-ups after celebrities went public with diagnoses
Prostate cancer has overtaken breast cancer in England as the most diagnosed form of the disease as more men seek check-ups after celebrities went public with diagnoses
Prostate cancer has become the most commonly diagnosed cancer in England, provisional official figures show, a rise attributed to more men seeking check-ups after actor Stephen Fry and broadcaster Bill Turnbull revealed they had the disease.
There were 49,029 diagnoses of prostate cancer in 2018, a rise of 7,828 from the previous year, according to Public Health England (PHE) cancer incidence data.
Prostate Cancer UK director of support and influencing Heather Blake said: ‘It’s a good thing that awareness of this killer disease is increasing, and more men are taking control by discussing it with their GP.’
More cancers diagnosed in males than females
The new figures mean prostate cancer has overtaken breast cancer as the most commonly diagnosed form of the disease a decade earlier than experts had predicted.
More cancers were diagnosed in males than females in 2018, at 165,228 versus 151,452, the figures also show.
Just over half of all registrations, 54%, were for prostate, breast, lung or bowel cancer.
PHE said the increase in registrations of invasive cancers in males was mainly down to the ‘Fry and Turnbull effect’ after Stephen Fry and Bill Turnbull went public with their prostate cancer diagnoses in early 2018.
Prostate Cancer UK's Ms Blake said: ‘The dramatic increase in diagnoses between 2017 and 2018 is likely a reflection of the surge in referrals sparked by the announcement that prostate cancer had become the third-biggest cancer killer and high-profile individuals such as Stephen Fry and Bill Turnbull sharing their experience of the disease.’
The full data will be released in the spring.
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