British Columbia - leading Canada in the battle against cancer..

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May 21, 2010 - "British Columbians (B.C.) lead the way because of our lifestyle habits - we have lower tobacco and obesity rates and higher physical activity rates - and this is paying off in lower cancer rates," says Kathryn Seely, Public Issues Manager, Canadian Cancer Society, B.C. and Yukon. "Steadily, we continue to make significant progress in the fight against cancer, however more needs to be done. Through advancements in research we know that 50 percent of cancers can be prevented."

The 2010 Cancer Statistics reveal death and incidence rates for the majority of cancer types have declined or stabilized during the past decade. In B.C. this year, there will be an estimated 21,600 new cases and an estimated 9,500 new deaths due to cancer. In Canada, it is estimated 173,000 new cases of cancer and 76,200 deaths will occur.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women even though it is the second most common cancer in both sexes. Twenty-seven per cent of all cancer deaths will be attributed to lung cancer in Canada and 26.3 per cent of all cancer deaths will be attributed to lung cancer in B.C.

Even though lung cancer incidence and mortality rates are lowest in B.C., double the number of men and women will die from lung cancer (2,500) than those who will die from breast and prostate (1,210) combined.

"B.C. has the lowest smoking rates in the country, however we continue to see higher incidence and death rates for lung cancer among women," says Seely. "The difference between male and female lung cancer rates reflects the drop in smoking that began for males in the mid-1960's and much later - in the mid-1980's for females."


Canadian Cancer Statistics 2010 is prepared, printed and distributed through a collaboration of the Canadian Cancer Society, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada, provincial and territorial cancer registries, as well as researchers based in universities and provincial or territorial cancer agencies.

Reference: British Columbia leads battle in cancer fightCANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY (BC AND YUKON DIVISION), CNW, 5/19.2010.


































































































































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