Cancer death rates are falling

Cancer is now the biggest killer of British men, overtaking heart disease for the first time, latest figures show.

Data from the charity Cancer Research UK shows that death rates from cancer have actually fallen by 15% in the last decade.

But mortality from heart disease dropped by 30% over the same period.

Experts warn that a similarly dramatic decline in deaths from cancer is unlikely as the disease is more complex.

But they are confident that medical and research advances will see the death rate continue to fall.

Female death rates from cancer in the UK overtook those from heart disease in the late eighties. Now, statistics show the same has happened in men.

Professor Nick Day, an epidemiologist from Strangeways Research Laboratory in Cambridge, said: "At the moment the gap between male deaths from cancer and heart disease is small but the difference will widen over the next ten years as deaths from heart disease continue to drop at a more rapid rate than cancer."

Latest available figures show that in 2001 there were around 79,800 deaths from cancer and around 79,500 deaths from heart disease in UK men.

This compares with 10 years ago, when there were 84,250 male deaths from cancer and 100,600 from heart disease.

It is estimated that by 2005 deaths from heart disease in UK men will have fallen to 65,000 while there will be 75,000 men dying from cancer.

Dr John Toy, medical director at Cancer Research UK, said cancer was an umbrella term used to describe 200 different diseases.

"No one kind of cancer is identical with any other and although there are similar underlying mechanisms, cancers act differently and respond differently to treatment depending on their type.

"The enormity and complexity of the cancer problem cannot be overemphasised."

The biggest causes of cancer death among UK men are: lung, prostate, bowel, oesophageal and stomach cancer.

Death rates for all of these cancers, apart from oesophageal cancer, have been falling over the last ten years

But there is concern that while progress is being made in the treatment of cancer, British men are ignoring both the early warning signs for the disease and important prevention messages.

Peter Cardy, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Relief, said: "These new statistics are particularly worrying since a Macmillan survey revealed that men are less likely to ask for information or discuss their health than women.

"In general, men will tend to ignore minor symptoms and may lack general cancer health knowledge.

"As a man I can understand putting things off that don't seem important at the time and traditionally blokes don't acknowledge health problems.

"But if we understand what to look for and conditions that may effect us, it could help get an early diagnosis with better treatment options."

Cancer Research is launching a month-long men's cancer awareness campaign.