higher cancer rates for the poor

A report from the National Cancer Intelligence Network found up to 14,000 cancer cases in England could be prevented if the population was as healthy as the top 20 per cent in the country. People from poorer backgrounds were more likely to smoke or be obese and suffer from late diagnosis and inequalities in the treatments offered to them.Poorer patients were more likely to suffer a range of cancers compared to their richer counterparts, including lung, head, neck oesophageal, bladder, cervical, stomach and liver cancer.

In the most affluent areas of England, 345 in every 100,000 people were diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2004 compared to 399 in every 100,000 in the most deprived areas - including Barnsley, Wakefield, Birmingham and large areas of London - a
16 per cent difference.The study also revealed men were more likely to suffer the effects of deprivation than women. Cancer rates among men in the most deprived areas were up to 21 per cent higher than in the least deprived. The gap between women was narrower, at 11 per cent.