Cancer, mortality rate for lung and pancreas in women rises in the EU

Between 2018 and 2023, cancer death rates in Europe and the UK fell by 6.5% among men and 3.7% among women, with 5.9 million deaths prevented in the European Union from 1989 to today and 1.24 million in the UK. However, women are at risk for lung and pancreatic cancer, especially over 65 years of age: for these two types, female mortality in the EU is expected to grow by 1% and 3.4 respectively %, with a marked increase of 5.6% among Italian women in particular for lung cancer. This is what emerges from the Italian study coordinated by the University of Milan together with the University of Bologna, published in the journal Annals of Oncology. However, the results do not take into account the Covid-19 pandemic, which may have influenced mortality following slowdowns in public health services.

Based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the researchers coordinated by Carlo La Vecchia from the University of Milan and Eva Negri from the University of Bologna have estimated that in 2023 1 million 262 thousand people will die from cancer in Europe and over 172,000 in the UK. Favorable trends are expected for mortality rates in the ten most common cancer sites in most European countries, although the absolute number of deaths will increase due to population ageing.

“If the current favorable trend in cancer mortality rates were to continue, a further 35% reduction by 2035 would be possible,” comments La Vecchia. “Tobacco control has contributed to these trends. To maintain them over time, further efforts are needed – adds the researcher – to control the epidemic of overweight, obesity and diabetes, limit alcohol consumption, improve early diagnosis and therapies, and control viral infections for which there are vaccines and therapies”