Experts warn poor North East areas more prone to cancer

Jun 14 2010 by Alastair Craig, The Journal

Janet Bryant, 44, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 and lives in Gateshead, which was named in the top 15% of the most deprived areas.

She said: “I think it’s vital that, wherever you live in the country, you can expect the same level of care if you have cancer. If less rich areas are favoured with better treatment options that must change.”

Care services minister Paul Burstow said: “It’s incredibly important that we reduce inequalities in cancer care. Late diagnosis, uptake of screening and variations in treatment choice are all factors we are looking at very closely.”

The NCIN study found men were more likely to suffer the effects of deprivation than women.

There are 21% more cancer cases among men in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived. The gap between women was narrower, at 11%.

Poorer patients of both sexes were more likely to suffer a range of cancers compared with their richer counterparts.

They were more likely to have cancer of the lung, head and neck, oesophageal, bladder, cervical, stomach and liver.

Chris Carrigan, head of the NCIN, said: “Although men are generally more likely to get cancer, much of the difference we see here is down to lung cancer – the most common cause of cancer death.

“It accounts for a bigger proportion of men’s cancers than women’s cancers.”

He said people are generally more likely to smoke or be obese in the most deprived areas.

“These results explain why urgent action must be taken to improve the health of people living in deprived areas, and to ensure that all cancer patients have an equal chance of surviving the disease,” he added.