Pancreatic cancer - UK mortality statistics

Pancreatic cancer mortality statistics can be found here, including by age and sex, geographic variation and trends over time up to 2008. Top line mortality for 2009 only can be found the Pancreatic cancer Key Facts.

The latest cancer incidence statistics available for the UK are for 2009, and for mortality the latest statistics are for 2010. We are currently working to update all the incidence and mortality pages on this site. Find out why more up to date statistics are not yet available.

It is possible for mortality to exceed incidence for cancer sites such as the pancreas due to the very poor survival rates. Mortality follows incidence very closely so a drop in incidence may leave mortality rates higher as proportions of patients diagnosed in previous years also contribute to the mortality data.

Pancreatic cancer mortality

 

By age and sex

Pancreatic cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the UK, and caused 7,781 deaths in 2008. The numbers of deaths and mortality rates for pancreatic cancer in the UK ( Table 2.11-,3) closely reflect the numbers of people being diagnosed.

Table 2.1: Number of deaths and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer, UK

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Patterns by age and sex ( Figure 2.11-,3) are therefore very similar to those described for incidence.

Figure 2.1: Numbers of deaths and age-specific mortality rates, pancreatic cancer, by sex, UK

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Across Europe and worldwide

Mortality rates in the European Union (EU) are consistently higher for males than females. Central and Eastern European countries have the highest mortality rates and Portugal and Cyprus have the lowest ( Figure 2.24).

Figure 2.2: European age-standardised mortality rates, pancreatic cancer, by sex, EU, 2002

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The UK ranks 21st in the EU for pancreatic cancer mortality and has a lower than average mortality rate for both males and females.

Worldwide there were an estimated 232,306 new cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed in 2002, accounting for 2% of all new cancer cases. Figure 2.3 shows that the more developed countries have higher mortality rates for both men and women compared with the less developed countries4.

Figure 2.3: World age-standardised mortality rates, pancreatic cancer, by sex, selected countries, 2002

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Rates also vary by ethnic group, with the highest rates in the black population in the United States, where the annual incidence is about 12 per 100,000 population 5.

 

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Trends over time

There has been little improvement in survival over the last few decades, which has remained exceptionally low. Therefore the mortality trend has matched the gradual decline seen in the  incidence rates very closely. The fall in mortality rates is largely due to falling male rates, with a decrease of 22% over the last 30 years. Female rates have remained fairly stable over the same period, while rates in persons have fallen by 11%. ( Figure 2.4).

Figure 2.4: European age-standardised mortality trends over time, pancreatic cancer, by sex, UK

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References for pancreatic cancer mortality

  1.  Office for National Statistics Mortality Statistics: Cause. England and Wales 2008 Accessed 2010
  2.  Scottish Health Statistics 2008 ISD Scotland Accessed 2010
  3.  Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Cancer Mortality in Northern Ireland, 2008 Accessed 2010
  4.  IARC. GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide (2002 estimates).  
  5.  Adami, H.O., D. Hunter, and D. Trichopoulos. Textbook of Cancer Epidemiology Vol. 2002, Oxford University Press: New York.