UK Cancer Incidence Statistics

This section presents the latest cancer incidence statistics for the UK. The latest year for which cancer incidence statistics are available is 2006.

In 2006 in the UK, 293,601 people were diagnosed with cancer.

Read the latest UK cancer incidence and mortality statistics by downloading the summary sheets showing  number of cases and deaths or  incidence and mortality rates for 49 types of cancer, now updated with incidence 2006 and mortality 2007 data.

The cancer statistics on these pages are designed for health professionals. If you are looking for information because you or someone you know has been affected by cancer , then the CancerHelp UK website may be more useful and relevant. CancerHelp UK also includes a straightforward guide to  understanding statistics.

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.

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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.

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UK cancer incidence statistics for common cancers

This page presents incidence statistics for all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and the most common cancers diagnosed in the UK.

Cancer is a major cause of morbidity in the UK. In 2006, around 293,000 people were newly diagnosed with cancer ( Table 1.1). 1-4

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There are more than 200 different types of cancer, but four of them - breast, lung, large bowel (colorectal) and prostate - account for over half (54%) of all new cases. 1-4 Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK despite the fact that it is rare in men. The 20 most commonly diagnosed cancers in the UK are shown in Figure 1.1. 1-4

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These cancer incidence statistics may differ from other published data. Find out why in the frequently asked questions section.

 Non-melanoma skin cancer incidence statistics

Even though non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is a very common condition, it is curable in the vast majority of cases. In 2006, over 81,600 cases were registered but registration is known to be incomplete. It has been estimated that at least 100,000 cases are diagnosed each year in the UK 5. NMSC is therefore routinely omitted from the overall total for new cases of cancer.

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UK cancer incidence statistics for females

This page presents female incidence statistics for all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and the most common cancers diagnosed the UK.

This page presents cancer incidence statistics for cancers that affect females in the UK.

Breast cancer is by far the most common cancer in females, with over 45,500 cases diagnosed in 2006 (Figure 4.1). 1-4 It accounts for around 31% (nearly 1 in 3) of all female cancers.

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After breast cancer, bowel (colorectal) (over 17,000 cases) and lung (over 16,600 cases) are the most common cancers in females. Breast, bowel and lung cancer account for over half of all female cases.

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UK cancer incidence statistics for males

This page presents male incidence statistics for all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and the most common cancers diagnosed the UK.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in UK males, with over 35,500 cases diagnosed in 2006 ( Figure 3.1) - see prostate cancer section for more detailed statistics. 1-4

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Lung cancer is the second most common cancer for males, with around 22,300 cases diagnosed in 2006. Lung cancer incidence rates in males have been falling in the UK since the 1960s, while prostate cancer incidence has risen sharply with the increasingly widespread use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing.

Bowel cancer is the third most common male cancer, with around 20,400 cases each year. These three cancers - prostate, lung and bowel - account for over half (53%) of all male cases.

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Prevalence (Numbers of Cancer Survivors) UK

This page presents the latest estimated cancer prevalence, also known as the number of cancer survivors, for the UK. The cancer incidence section has statistics on the number of new cases of cancer diagnosed with cancer each year.

Whilst cancer incidence refers to the number of new cancer cases arising in a specified period of time, cancer prevalence refers to the number of people who have previously received a diagnosis of cancer and who are still alive at a given time point. Some of these patients will have been cured and others will not. Therefore prevalence reflects both the incidence of cancer and its associated survival pattern.

Overall, it is estimated that there are now 2 million cancer survivors in the UK, or approximately 3.3% of the population of the UK 1. This figure is rising at an estimated 3.2% per year, with the single cancer that contributes most to this total being breast cancer, with an estimated 550,000 women alive who have had a diagnosis of breast cancer. Overall, 10% of the total UK population over the age of 65 years is now a cancer survivor.

These latest estimates are much higher than previous forecasts of cancer prevalence 2. This is mainly because incidence has been rising whilst the death rates have continued to fall, leading to better survival. This trend is expected to continue over the coming years as a result of a number of factors, including an ageing population, earlier detection of cancer and continued improvements in treatment.

Table 7.1 shows the latest cancer prevalence estimates for the UK.

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The latest estimates 1 were calculated from data for England for 1971-2004, with corrections applied to give an estimate of the number of cancer survivors alive before 1971, and also how many there would be from 2004 up to the end of 2008. These estimates were then scaled up to the UK population.

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Statistics on the risk of developing cancer

An individual’s risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including smoking behaviour, diet and genetic inheritance.

Cancer is primarily a disease of older people; therefore a person's risk of developing cancer is dependent on age. Overall, it is estimated that more than one in three people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime 1-4. This compares to an estimated risk of 1 in 27 for people aged up to 50 years. For further information on risk see the section on  understanding risk.

Estimates of the lifetime risk of developing some of the most common cancers are shown in Table 5.15. These estimates assume no change in the current incidence rates and should be used as an approximate guide only.

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Cancer is primarily a disease of older people, as the difference between the estimates for the percentage of a cohort who develop cancer by age 65 and over a lifetime show. For instance, a woman's risk of developing breast cancer by age 65 is less than 6% but the overall lifetime risk is 11%. For men there is a less than 2% risk of developing lung cancer by age 65 but this increases to 8% over a lifetime.

Life expectancy in the UK is increasing, with more elderly people alive today than ever before. In 2002, a woman aged 65 could expect to live to the age of 84, while a man could expect to live to 81 6. If current cancer incidence rates remain the same, by 2025 there will be an additional 100,000 cases of cancer diagnosed each year as a result of the ageing population 7.

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UK cancer incidence statistics by country

More detailed incidence statistics for the UK by cancer site are shown in Tables 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. These tables present statistics for new cases of cancer diagnosed in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for males, females and persons respectively and can be downloaded below.

Download Table 8.1 (males) (42KB)

Download Table 8.2 (females) (43KB)

Download Table 8.3 (persons) (46KB)

The crude rates per 100,000 population for the UK are provided and rates for individual countries can be calculated using the population figures at the base of each table, allowing comparisons between cancer sites. However, since the incidence of cancer is heavily age dependent, it is advisable to age-standardise the rates when making comparisons between populations with different age structures. Age-standardised rates for specific cancers can be found by selecting a cancer from the types of cancer menu.

Cancer registration is a dynamic process and the data presented here may differ from other published data relating to the same time period.

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Trends in UK cancer incidence statistics

This page presents trends in cancer incidence rates.

In the 30-year period 1977 to 2006, the overall age-standardised incidence rate for cancer has increased in Great Britain, by 25%, with a 14% increase in men and a 32% increase in women.(Figure 6.1)

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UK cancer incidence trends in the ten-year period 1997 to 2006 have remained fairly constant. There has been a slight decrease in men (by 1%) and a slight increase in women (by around 2%) ( Figure 6.2). 1-4 The highest increases have been in people aged 15-34.

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Figure 6.3 shows the trend in incidence and mortality rates for all cancers, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, in Great Britain.

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Incidence trends for individual cancers

The trends for individual cancers vary enormously ( Figure 6.4). Large decreases (around 30%) in incidence rates occurred for male and female bladder 1-4( see note below) and stomach cancer.

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Large increases in cancer incidence rates over the last ten years have been seen for malignant melanoma, mesothelioma, uterus (womb) cancer and oral cancer.

For men, the most rapidly increasing cancer incidence rates were for malignant melanoma (64%), prostate cancer (37%), mesothelioma (26%) and liver cancer (29%).

The increase in prostate cancer incidence has been fuelled by the increasing use of PSA testing since the early 1990s, that detects invasive cancers at an earlier stage as well as latent tumours that might otherwise have remained asymptomatic and undiagnosed during the man’s lifetime. 1

For women the most rapidly increasing rates were for mesothelioma (61%), malignant melanoma (49%), uterus cancer (22%) and oral cancer (17%).

Please note: Over the period 1996-1999 there was a marked reduction in the numbers of registrations of invasive bladder cancer. This reduction is likely to be a reflection of the change in coding practice recommended by the European Network of Cancer Registries and subsequently by the United Kingdom Association of Cancer Registries.Some cases classified and coded previously as invasive bladder cancer are now coded as carcinoma in situ of the bladder or neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behaviour of the bladder. This will explain much of the changes over time and between countries