Cancer
Health & Wellbeing priority:
Improve cancer prevention and screening
Why is cancer prevention and early detection a priority in Trafford?
Cancer is the most common cause of premature death in Trafford and two thirds of these deaths are preventable. An estimated 38% of new cancer cases each year are preventable by tackling behavioural risk factors. Breast, cervical and colon cancers have a 90% survival rate if detected early.
How many people are affected by cancer in Trafford?
Incidence (new cancer registrations)
- In 2020/21, there were 1,060 new cancer registrations in Trafford and the incidence rate (451 per 100,000) was statistically similar to the average for England (456 per 100,000) (Cancer Services, 2021).
- Data from 2020 suggests that 46.7% of cancers were in males (549 registrations) and 53.3% in females (626 registrations). Common cancers in Trafford males for 2019 were prostate (121 registrations or 22.0% of total), bowel (75 or 13.7%), and lung (67 or 12.2%). Common cancers in Trafford females were breast (187 registrations or 29.9% of total), lung (78 or 12.5%) and bowel (75 or 12.0%) (CancerData, 2020).
- For the period 2015-2019 (latest available data), the number of new cases of breast , bowel and prostate cancers were statistically similar to England average and lung cancer cases were higher than England average (Local Health, 2019).
- Time trends: Overall, there has been a rise in cancer incidence rates both locally and nationally during the period 2009/2010- 2018/2019, before decreasing in the following two time periods (2019/20 and 2020/21). The rise in incidence rate for all cancers in Trafford during all time periods remained statistically similar to England average. (Cancer Services Profile, 2020). Recent time trends for tumour sites are not available.
Prevalence
A total of 9,306 patients were on a Trafford ICB GP cancer register in 2021/22 (defined as patients with a diagnosis of cancer excluding non-melanotic skin cancers and diagnosed on or after 1 April 2003). This represents 3.8% of all registered patients, compared with 3.3% across England as a whole. The number of cancer patients on Trafford GP registers increased by 399 between 2020/21 and 2021/22. According to GP practices within Trafford ICB, prevalence ranges three-fold from 1.9% to 5.88% (National General Practice Profile, 2022).
Mortality
During the period 2019-2021, there were 1,668 deaths from cancer (25.5% of all deaths) in Trafford. The age standardised cancer mortality rate was 250.6 per 100,000. The most common forms of cancer leading to death were lung cancers (328 deaths or 19.7% of all cancer deaths) and colorectal cancers (155 deaths or 9.3% of all cancer deaths) (NOMIS, 2020).
Mortality by Gender
Deaths in females from cancer: There were 771 deaths from cancer in females (47.5% of all cancer deaths by gender) during the period 2018-2020. The age standardised cancer mortality rate in females was 220.7 per 100,000 population. The most common forms of cancer leading to death in females were lung cancers (158 deaths or 20.5% of all cancer deaths in females), breast cancers (97 deaths or 12.6% of all cancer deaths in females) and colorectal cancers (72 deaths or 9.3% of all deaths in females)
Deaths in males from cancer: There were 853 deaths from cancer in males (52.5% of all cancer deaths by gender) during the period 2018-2020. The age standardised cancer mortality rate in males was 306.7 per 100,000 population. The most common forms of cancer leading to death in males were lung cancers (175 deaths or 20.5% of all cancer deaths in males), prostate cancers (123 deaths or 14.4% of all cancer deaths in males) and colorectal cancers (82 deaths or 9.6% of all cancer deaths in males)
Time trends: Overall, there has been a continued decline in cancer death rates both locally and nationally. Death rates from common cancers are lower in 2018-2020 compared with 2001-2003 baseline (CancerData, 2020).
Premature and Preventable Mortality
The age standardised under 75 death rate from cancer has been steadily declining from 171.5 per 100,000 population in 2001-2003 to 124.7 per 100,000 population in 2017-2019, and the Trafford rate remains statistically similar to the England average. Trafford had the 4th lowest premature deaths from cancer amongst its 15 nearest statistical neighbours. Between 2017 and 2019 there were 729 deaths from cancer of people aged under 75 in Trafford. Of these 729 deaths, almost half (316 or 43.3%) are considered preventable (PHOF, 2019). Deaths are considered preventable if, in the light of the understanding of the determinants of health at the time of death, all or most deaths from the underlying cause (subject to age limits if appropriate) could potentially be avoided by public health interventions in the broadest sense. (Mortality Profile, 2019).
Early diagnosis
About 1 in 5 (22.6%) of patients in NHS Trafford ICB are diagnosed with cancer through an emergency route (similar to England average of 19.3%) (CADEAS, 2019). The proportion of staged cancer that are diagnosed early (at stage 1 or 2) in Trafford ICB (56.4%) is also similar to England (51.8%) (CADEAS, 2019).
Which groups within Trafford are most at risk from cancer?
Gender
Men are more likely than women to die early from preventable cancers: the directly age standardised under 75 death rate from cancers considered preventable among males in Trafford for the period 2017-2019 was higher (67.2 per 100,000) than the rate for females (43.3 per 100,000) (Mortality Profile, 2019).
Geographical area and deprivation
Public Health England publishes data for electoral wards within Trafford on incidence of all cancers and broken down by the main cancer sites (breast, bowel, lung and prostate). There is wide variation between wards which, for all cancers combined and for bowel and lung cancer, is linked to deprivation, with increased incidence in more deprived areas.
Mortality data is published for all cancers combined for all ages and for under 75. Again, there is wide variation between wards especially for premature mortality, which is linked to deprivation, with higher mortality in more deprived areas (Local Health, 2017).
What services are in place to contribute to detecting cancer earlier and preventing cancers?
Cancer screening can detect cancers at an early stage and in some cases even prevent cancers from developing in the first place.
Across all of the main cancer screening programmes in Trafford (breast, bowel and cervical) coverage in the most deprived 20% of GP practices is significantly lower than coverage in the least deprived 20% of practices. Work to narrow this gap can be expected to impact on the geographical and social inequalities in cancer incidence and mortality.
There are also a variety of groups and organisations which are in place for support when it comes to cancer. They include: