Summary
Canada's aging baby boomers and the country's
growing population are propelling Canada into a cancer crisis, according to
Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005 released today by the Canadian Cancer Society.
"The number of new cancer cases in Canada is growing twice as fast as the
population is growing," says Heather Logan, Director, Cancer Control Policy,
Canadian Cancer Society. "Cancer is already straining our healthcare system
and it's going to get worse as the number of new cancer cases increases as the
baby boom generation ages."
From 2000 to 2004, the population grew about one per cent annually while
the number of cancer cases grew by about two per cent per year. Logan adds
that if current trends continue with the growing and aging population, it is
expected that 5.7 million Canadians will develop cancer and 2.7 million people
will die of the disease over the next 30 years.
"This disease causes immeasurable suffering for Canadians," says Dr.
Barbara Whylie, CEO, Canadian Cancer Society. "In addition, the direct
healthcare costs of cancer will have a severe impact on our economy. Canada
urgently needs to implement the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control. We need
to take action to fight cancer in a coordinated way from coast to coast."
Prevention is one important way to offset the trend of increasing cancer
cases and Progress in Cancer Prevention: Modifiable Risk Factors is the
special topic in this year's report.
"There are many risk factors for cancer that we cannot change, such as
age, sex and genetic inheritance," says Logan. "But there are also important
cancer risk factors that people can change. If we can help more people adopt
healthier lifestyles, we'll see fewer Canadians diagnosed with cancer in the
future."
Tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, excess body weight,
alcohol consumption, overexposure to the sun and exposure to environmental and
workplace carcinogens account for a substantial number of cancer diagnoses
each year.
The prevention special topic shows that:
- 60 per cent of Canadians do not eat the recommended amounts of fruit
and vegetables.
- About half of Canadians (54 per cent of women and 44 per cent of men)
are physically inactive.
- Almost half of Canadians (56 per cent of men, 39 per cent of women)
are at an unhealthy body weight.
- Rates of physical inactivity are declining slowly but rates of excess
body weight are increasing, especially in children.
- 18 per cent of Canadians over 12 years of age are heavy drinkers.
- In 2002, 21 per cent of Canadians over 12 years of age smoked and 18
per cent of youth aged 15-19.
- Tobacco use is declining but is still high in some groups.
"A considerable body of evidence has accumulated over the last 30 years
about how to prevent cancer," says Logan. "We've made great inroads in cancer
prevention through tobacco control and if we apply these lessons to other
areas even greater gains can be made. We have to work harder at both helping
Canadians to embrace healthy lifestyles and helping governments to create
policies that encourage people to make these changes."
Logan adds that at least 50 per cent of cancers can be prevented through
healthy living and policies that protect the public.
"The Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control has an action plan for
prevention that, if implemented, would bring about important reductions in
cancer incidence," says Whylie.
Whylie adds that over the next 30 years, if a Canadian Strategy for
Cancer Control is implemented, there is the potential to prevent more than
1.2 million Canadians from developing cancer and it could save the lives of
more than 420,000 Canadians.
The need for a Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control was identified in the
late 1990s by four groups - the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian
Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies, Health Canada and the National
Cancer Institute of Canada. The goals of the strategy are to reduce risk of
developing cancer, reduce risk of dying of cancer, and to improve quality of
life for those diagnosed with cancer.
Data for this year's special topic - Progress in Cancer Prevention:
Modifiable Risk Factors - were obtained primarily from the Progress Report on
Cancer Control in Canada, published by the Public Health Agency of Canada in
2004.
Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005 is prepared, printed and distributed
through a collaboration of the Canadian Cancer Society, the Public Health
Agency of Canada, the National Cancer Institute of Canada, Statistics Canada,
provincial/territorial cancer registries, as well as university-based and
provincial/territorial cancer agency-based cancer researchers.
The Canadian Cancer Society is a national, community-based organization
of volunteers whose mission is to eradicate cancer and to enhance the quality
of life of people living with cancer. When you want to know more about cancer,
visit our website www.cancer.ca or call our toll-free, bilingual Cancer
Information Service at 1 888 939-3333.
Satellite information for video B-roll (English only):
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Broadcast information for radio audio clips package (English only):
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Media backgrounder: Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005
Fast Facts
Current incidence and death
- An estimated 149,000 new cases of cancer and 69,500 deaths from
cancer will occur in Canada in 2005. This is 3,500 more new cases and
1,200 more deaths than 2004.
- Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death for both men
and women.
- Overall, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death from
cancer.
Probability of developing or dying from cancer
- On the basis of current incidence rates, 38 per cent of Canadian
women and 44 per cent of men will develop cancer during their
lifetimes.
- On the basis of current death rates, 24 per cent of women and 29 per
cent of men, or approximately one out of every four Canadians, will
die from cancer.
Prevalence
- 2.4 per cent of Canadian men and 2.7 per cent of Canadian women have
had a diagnosis of cancer in the previous 15 years.
Age and sex distribution of cancer
- 44 per cent of new cancer cases and 60 per cent of cancer deaths
occur among those who are at least 70 years old.
- Cancer incidence and death rates are higher in women than men during
the reproductive years, although men have higher rates at all other
stages of life.
- Cancer death rates are declining for men at all ages and for women
under 70. Declines are most rapid in children and adolescents (ages
0-19).
Media backgrounder: Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005
Highlights
Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005 reports that, in general, incidence and
death rates for the majority of cancer sites have stabilized or declined
during the past decade. "While the number of new cancer cases is increasing
because of Canada's aging and growing population, a person's individual risk
of developing or dying of cancer has not changed significantly," says Heather
Logan, Director, Cancer Control Policy, Canadian Cancer Society.
Progress
- Among Canadian men, the cancer death rate, after reaching a peak in
1988, is declining slowly as a result of decreases in death rates for
lung, colorectal and other cancers.
- Among Canadian women, the rising incidence rate may be stabilizing,
and death rates have declined slightly.
- Prostate cancer death rates are dropping. There was a significant
drop in death rates from 1992 to 2001 (two per cent decline
annually). It is not clear whether the decline is due to earlier
detection, better treatment, or both. Prostate cancer is the most
common cancer among Canadian men.
- Since 1993, incidence rates for breast cancer have stabilized and
death rates have declined steadily. Improved survival is likely due
to both organized mammography screening programs and additional
therapies following surgery. Breast cancer is the most common cancer
among Canadian women.
- Canadian women
- Incidence rates continue to decline for stomach, cervical,
ovarian, bladder, pancreatic and laryngeal cancers, and Hodgkin's
disease.
- Besides breast cancer, death rates are also declining for
leukemia, colorectal, stomach, pancreatic, cervical and ovarian
cancers.
- Canadian men
- Incidence rates continue to decline for stomach, laryngeal, oral,
bladder, lung and pancreatic cancers, and Hodgkin's disease.
- Death rates are declining for stomach, colorectal, lung, oral,
pancreatic, esophageal and laryngeal cancers, and Hodgkin's
disease.
Challenges
- Among women, lung cancer incidence and death rates continue their
rapid increase and are three times as high as rates in 1976. Among
women, smoking rates only began to decline slightly in the mid-1980s
and, as a result, declining lung cancer rates have yet to become
apparent.
- Of all the cancers analyzed in the new report, the incidence rates of
three cancers among men and one among women have increased at an
average rate of greater than two per cent annually since 1992. These
are melanoma and cancer of the thyroid and prostate in men, and
thyroid cancer in women.
- Melanoma incidence rates are increasing for both men and women. Death
rates are increasing for men.
- Cancers showing a significant increase, but of less than two per cent
annually, are non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and testicular cancer in men,
and lung cancer and melanoma in women.
These patterns were detected by analyzing age-standardized rates, which
refer to the number of people per 100,000 who are diagnosed, or die of,
cancer. Age-standardization allows comparisons among the different years since
it accounts for changes that have occurred over time in the age distribution
of the population.
Media backgrounder: Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005
Prevention
Following are highlights from the special section in Canadian Cancer
Statistics 2005 - Progress in Cancer Prevention: Modifiable Risk Factors.
Tobacco
- Tobacco use accounts for about 30 per cent of cancer incidence
(excluding skin cancer); 30 per cent of cancer deaths; and 85 per
cent of lung cancer.
- Exposure to tobacco increases the risk of several types of cancer
including cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, cervix, pancreas,
esophagus, colon, rectum, kidney and bladder.
- Steady progress has been made in reducing the prevalence of smoking:
half of Canadians 15 years of age or older smoked in 1965, but in
2002 this had dropped to 21 per cent.
- Smoking among Canada's Aboriginal people is more than twice as common
as among Canadians overall.
- Non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke have about a 20 per
cent greater risk of lung cancer than people who are unexposed, and
there is increasing evidence of an effect on risk of other cancers.
There has been progress in measures to protect non-smokers from
exposure to second-hand smoke. Sixty-six per cent of workers had
workplaces with complete restrictions on smoking in 2003, compared to
40 per cent in 1994.
- Several factors have contributed to progress in tobacco control,
including
- higher tobacco taxes
- curbs on tobacco advertising and promotion
- smoking restrictions in workplaces and public places
- larger picture-based health warnings on cigarette packages
- providing support for people who wish to quit
- government programming initiatives, including mass media campaigns
Unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and excess body weight
- Unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and excess body weight are
powerful determinants of cancer risk.
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer attributes about
25-33 per cent of cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, kidney and
uterus to excess body weight and physical inactivity. A number of
other cancers are related to poor diet, including bladder, lung, and
oral cavity.
- The American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that about 30 to
40 per cent of all cancer cases could be prevented over time by a
combination of following recommended diets and maintaining physical
activity and appropriate body weight.
- Fruit and vegetable consumption has increased by about 40 per cent
since the 1960s. These changes have probably contributed to reduced
risk of some cancers, especially of the gastrointestinal tract. The
Canadian Cancer Society recommends that people eat 5 to 10 servings
of vegetables and fruit a day. However, most Canadians still do not
follow the recommendation. In 2001, more than 60 per cent of
Canadians consumed less than the recommended amount.
- Physical inactivity rates have been gradually declining since 1994,
but in 2000-2001, more than half of Canadians over 12 years of age
were still considered physically inactive (according to the 2000-2001
Canadian Community Health Survey).
- Prevalence of unhealthy weight is increasing in all ages,
particularly among children. In 1981, 18 per cent of children were
overweight and five per cent obese. In 1998-1999, the National
Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth found 37 per cent of
children aged two to 11 overweight and 18 per cent obese.
- Almost 50 per cent of all Canadians are overweight and 15 per cent
are obese.
Alcohol
- Alcohol consumption is implicated in many types of cancer. Drinking
two standard drinks per day raises risk of cancers of the mouth,
pharynx, esophagus, larynx and oral cavity. It is a risk factor for
breast cancer in women and colorectal cancer (particularly in men).
- Cancer risk increases with the amount of alcohol consumed.
- In 2003, according to the Canadian Community Health Survey, 18 per
cent of the population aged 12 and over were heavy drinkers (five or
more drinks on one occasion, 12 or more times per year)
Sun exposure and ultraviolet radiation
- Exposure to the sun is associated with all forms of skin cancer,
including lip cancer.
- Tanning beds and lamps, like the sun, emit ultraviolet radiation and
are considered carcinogenic.
- Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Canada, accounting for about
one-third of all new diagnosed cancers. It ranks much lower as a
cause of death. The most common forms of skin cancer - basal cell
carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma - are non-lethal. The most
serious form - melanoma - is the least common.
- Reduction of sun exposure has the potential to substantially reduce
the number of cancers.
Other modifiable risk factors
- Other potentially modifiable risk factors for cancer include some
infections (for example, some types of human papilloma virus) and
exposure to carcinogens in the workplace or environment. Despite
evidence that some of these exposures are causally related to cancer,
ongoing registry or other surveillance data are needed to track
population trends and assess their impact.
The Canadian Cancer Society's recommendations for reducing cancer risk
are on: www.cancer.ca; in the Prevention section (click on Seven Steps to
Health).
Media backgrounder: Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control
Background
Work on developing a national strategy to fight cancer began in Canada in
the late 1990s. More than 700 cancer experts and survivors came together to
work on a plan to ensure that Canada's health system would be ready to meet
the growing cancer challenge. Organizations, including the Canadian Cancer
Society, have been advocating for the implementation of the Canadian Strategy
for Cancer Control since 2002.
Why a national strategy is needed:
- Over the next 30 years, it is expected that more than 5.7 million
Canadians will develop cancer and 2.7 million Canadians will die from
the disease.
- Every seven minutes, two Canadians are diagnosed with cancer and one
dies from it every 7.5 minutes. In 20 years, because of our growing
and aging population, two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer and
one will die every five minutes.
- Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada and will
soon become the leading cause of death.
- At least 50 per cent of cancers are preventable, yet there is an
inadequate infrastructure to support cancer prevention activities
across the country.
- Cancer is expected to have a significant impact on the economy of
Canada over the next 30 years. The federal and provincial governments
combined are expected to lose over $248 billion in tax revenues as a
result of cancer disability (as measured in 2004 dollars).
- The direct healthcare costs associated with cancer are expected to
exceed $176 billion over the next 30 years.
Implementing a national strategy would mean, over the next 30 years:
- preventing over 1.2 million Canadians from developing cancer
- saving the lives of more than 420,000 Canadians
- saving more than $39 billion in direct healthcare costs
- preventing the loss of more than $101 billion in wage-based
productivity
- preventing the loss of more than $34 billion in total government tax
revenues
Original source:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2005/12/c4400.html
Details
- Canada Heading Towards Cancer Crisis
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