UK: 160 new cases of tobacco-related cancer diagnosed every day

Cancers attributable to smoking have reached a record high in the UK with 160 new cases diagnosed per day in 2023, according to a new study. analysis from Cancer Research UK, the UK's largest independent cancer charity.

Smoking causes at least 16 different types of cancer, with lung cancer alone causing 33,000 new cases a year in the UK.

Alarming rise in smoking-related cancers in UK

Every day in the UK, 160 new cancers are diagnosed that are attributable to smoking. In 2003, there were 49,325 cases of cancer of all types caused by smoking, in 2013 this number was 56,091 and last year it reached 57,555.

In a report it has just published, Cancer Research UK explains that smoking has caused a 17% increase in cancer cases since 2003. The increase in the number of certain types of cancer, notably liver, throat and kidney cancers, has been particularly marked, with their numbers doubling over the last 20 years. Taking into account a proportion of breast cancers attributable to smoking also helps explain this increase, representing around 2,200 cases per year.

High smoking mortality despite decline in smoking

Although smoking rates are declining from 19.8% in 2011 to 12.9% in 2022[1], the absolute number of people affected by the harm caused by smoking continues to rise as the population increases. There are around 6.4 million smokers in the UK and we are also dealing with cancers developed by former smokers who have quit but have been exposed for years. Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK's director of public policy and information, said: " Currently, six people are diagnosed with cancer caused by smoking every hour in the UK. Every hour, six families' lives are turned upside down by a preventable disease. »

The warning from Cancer Research UK comes after nine cancer specialists warned in a letter published in The Lancet Oncology that the National Health Service (NHS) was at breaking point in cancer care.

With this publication, Cancer Research UK is supporting other initiatives supporting the reintroduction of the bill to eliminate tobacco from British society.

©Tobacco Free Generation

D.T.

[1] UK Government website, Local tobacco control profiles for England: statistical commentary, December 2022 update, UK government website, published 2022, accessed 10 July 2024