The Overall Cancer Rate

The only regions to record a cancer incidence rate of over 600 per 100,000 were:

the North East
the North West
Yorkshire & the Humber

In the North East there was one case of cancer for every 154 people. In both the North West and the Yorkshire & the Humber region there was one case of cancer for every 162 people.

The figures below show the overall cancer incidence rate per 100,000 people:

646:    North East
618.1: North West
617:    Yorkshire & the Humber
597.8: West Midlands
591.1: South East
589.2: East Midlands
589.1: South West
586.9: East
567.5 London

Lung Cancer

This geographical variation in the overall rate of cancer can also be seen in the incidence rates for individual types of cancer. For example the incident rate for lung cancer is higher in the north than in the south of England.

The highest rate of lung cancer registrations in 2017 were in the North East with 107.9 cases of lung cancer per 100,000 people. The lowest rate of lung cancer registrations was in the South East with 65.2 cases of lung cancer per 100,000 people.

The Incident Rate for Lung Cancer in England

107.9: North East
94:      North West
91.7:   Yorkshire & the Humber
75.5:   East Midlands
74:      London
73.7:   West Mildlands
67.1:   East
65.8:   South West
65.2:   South East

Breast Cancer

The most common cancer for adult females is breast cancer. For breast cancer the regional variation is reversed. In 2017 there were more registrations of breast cancer in some southern regions than in the northern regions of England.

The Incident Rate for Breast Cancer in England

174.2:   South East
172.9:   South West
166.7:   East Midlands
164.9:   East
164.8:   London
164.8:   North East
164.7:   West Mildlands
163.9:   North West
160:      Yorkshire & the Humber

Prostate Cancer

The most common cancer for adult males (except in young men where testicular is most common) is prostate cancer. As with breast cancer for women the regional variation is reversed for prostate cancer. In 2017 there were more registrations of prostate cancer in some southern regions than in the northern regions of England.

189.5:   South East
184.7:   East
183:      London
173.7:   West Mildlands
169.2:   East Midlands
169:      South West
160:      Yorkshire & the Humber
151.2:   North West
150.1:   North East

Conclusion

In 2017 there was a marked geographical variation in the age-sex-standardised rate of cancer incidence in England. In general northern regions saw higher levels of cancer registrations than southern regions for cancer overall and for many individual cancers, such as lung cancer. However this geographical pattern is not seen in breast cancer in women and in prostate cancer in men. In fact for breast cancer and prostate cancer the geographical variation is almost reversed, with higher levels of registrations in some southern regions than in some northern regions of England.

Credits

The 2017 cancer registration statistics on this map come from the Office of National Statistics.

This Cancer in England story map was made by Maps Mania.