Cancer atlas: The incidence of and deaths from brain tumours and all cancers of the brain are significantly higher in the Republic than in the UK, according to research to be published today.
The incidence of brain cancer is 10 per cent higher in the Republic and deaths from these cancers are 25 per cent higher in the Republic than in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales.
The finding follows a study of trends in the incidence of and deaths from several different cancers across Ireland and Britain. The results are published in the first atlas of cancer for Ireland and the UK which has been compiled by the UK Office of National Statistics in partnership with the Irish National Cancer Registry.
Dr Harry Comber, director of the Irish National Cancer Registry, said yesterday he had no idea why brain cancers were higher in the Republic. "It's not something we would have been very aware of. Very little is known of the causes of brain cancer," he said.
Meanwhile, the cancer atlas also reveals differences in the rates of several other cancers across the Republic and UK. It shows a very high rate of cancer of the lip and mouth in the west and north-west of Ireland, at 35 per cent, and in the west of Scotland, which may be related (at least for cancer of the lip) to fishing and farming.
Dr Comber said there was no reason for anybody to die from cancer of the lip. If people found anything unusual on the lip, they should see their doctor as this type of cancer was very treatable, he said.
In addition, the researchers found colorectal (large bowel) cancer rates, in terms of both cases and deaths, to be considerably higher also in the Republic and in Scotland, than elsewhere.
The incidence of these cancers is 20 per cent higher among men and 10 per cent higher among women living in the Republic and in Scotland.
Dr Comber said diet was probably the reason for this. "There is evidence that vegetable and fibre consumption in Scotland is lower than for England and Wales. We do not have much information on vegetable and fibre consumption in Ireland but the reason for the difference here is probably a shared dietary issue. The reason is unlikely to be genetic or anything like that," he said.
The atlas also shows that both incidence and mortality for prostate cancer is higher in the Republic than in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Dr Comber said there was no particular reason for this.
The incidence was 15 per cent higher and the death rate 10 per cent higher in the Republic, he confirmed.
By contrast, rates of lung cancer (both incidence and mortality) are about 25 per cent lower for men in the Republic than in the other countries. For women, the rate of new lung cancer cases is also lower than elsewhere, but death rates are close to those in the UK.
The reason for lower rates of lung cancer were due to the fact that smoking rates in Ireland had fallen, Dr Comber said.
Meanwhile, the number of new cases of breast cancer in the Republic and Northern Ireland have been found to be lower than in England, Scotland or Wales. Dr Comber believes this is because more cases are being picked up in organised screening programmes in England, Scotland and Wales, though he acknowledged that screening was also carried out in Northern Ireland and in parts of the Republic.
Melanoma, a form of skin cancer, was also found to be more common in the Republic and Scotland, but death rates for this cancer are not much different from those in the other countries, suggesting that detection may be more effective in the Republic and Scotland.