UK cancer incidence statistics by age

Cancer occurs predominantly in older people, with nearly three quarters (74%) of cases diagnosed in people aged 60 and over, and more than a third of cases in people aged 75 and over.

Figure 2.11-4 shows the numbers of new cancer cases and the rates by age and sex in the UK.

A chart showing the number of new cases and age specific rates of all cancers, excluding non melanoma skin cancer, for males and females in the UK

Download this chart (48KB)

Less than 1% of all cases occur in children (0-14 years). Around 1,400 cases of cancer were diagnosed in children in 2006, with a slightly higher incidence in boys than girls.

The risk of an individual child in Britain being diagnosed with cancer before the age of 15 is about 1 in 500. The solid tumours of the breast, lung, bowel and prostate, which are so common in older people, are rare in children. Leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer, responsible for around a third of all cases. Brain and spinal tumours together account for more than a fifth (see childhood cancer section).

1,875 UK teenagers and young adults (15-24 years) were diagnosed with cancer in 2006. The most common cancers diagnosed at these ages include Hodgkin's lymphoma, testicular cancer, malignant melanoma, leukaemia, bone and connective tissue tumours and brain and other central nervous system tumours.

Around 1 in 10 of all cancer cases are in adults aged 25-49 years. The most common cancers diagnosed in this age group include breast, malignant melanoma, colorectal (bowel) and cancer of the cervix. Breast cancer accounts for nearly half (47%) of all cancers diagnosed in UK women aged 40-59 years.