Cancer affects all of us. Over 250,000 people in England are diagnosed with cancer every year and around 130,000 die from the disease. Currently, about 1.8 million people are living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis (Improving outcomes: a strategy for cancer).

The area covered by the Pan Birmingham Cancer Network stretches from Lichfield to Walsall, though Sandwell and central Birmingham and across to Solihull. The population living in this area is very diverse.

• Walsall has high proportion of adult smokers and high prevalence of obesity.
• Sandwell is a relatively deprived area with poorer life expectancy in comparison with the rest of the West Midlands.
• Birmingham is a relatively deprived area with over half of people in Birmingham living in the most deprived areas in England.
• Solihull has higher life expectancy than the rest of the West Midlands.
  

In order to respond to the challenge of cancer it is important to have reliable information about the disease and how it affects the population. Important work has been carried out on a national and local basis and some of the findings are presented below. More information can be found by following the links to the reports at the bottom of this page.

A useful explanation of the statistics used to describe cancer can be found on Cancer Research UK's website.

• There were 27,330 cases of invasive cancer diagnosed in the West Midlands in 2009, and 9,133 of these were in the Pan Birmingham Cancer Network population.
• Cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly and so the number of cases of cancer is increasing each year as the population gets older. Once the age of the population is taken into account it can be shown that the risk of developing cancer has not changed.

• More people are surviving one and five years from their cancer diagnosis than there were ten years ago.
• Survival rates vary according to cancer site. For example in the West Midlands over 80% of those with breast or prostate cancer were alive five years after their diagnosis whereas this figure is less than 15% for those diagnosed with lung or upper gastro-intestinal cancers.

• There were 13,645 deaths due to cancer in the West Midlands in 2009, and 4,394 of these were in the Pan Birmingham Cancer Network population.
• While the number of cancers diagnosed each year has increased the number of deaths due to cancer remains about the same. This trend is difficult to explain.
• To put all of these figures into perspective at the end of 2006 there were 33,613 people living in the Pan Birmingham Cancer Network who had survived ten years following their cancer diagnosis.

• Detecting cancers at an early stage reduces the number of premature deaths due to cancer and improves survival rates. Early detection requires prompt recognition of and response to the signs and symptoms of cancer.
• It has been shown that almost a quarter of patients are only diagnosed with cancer following an emergency admission to hospital. The likelihood of surviving a year following diagnosis is much lower for those who present as emergencies.
• The National Awareness and Early Detection Initiative (NAEDI) is coordinating activities and research that promote the earlier diagnosis of cancer. More information about this initiative is available on the NAEDI pages of Cancer Research UK's website.

• The Pan Birmingham Cancer Network has a diverse population with areas of high deprivation and with a relatively high proportion of ethnic minorities in the inner city areas. Cancer is primarily a disease of the elderly and is also affected by lifestyle factors such as smoking and obesity.
• If cancer incidence rates across the West Midlands were the same as those in the most affluent population then approximately 1400 cases of cancer and 2200 deaths due to cancer would be prevented each year.
• Black men are up to three times more likely to get prostate cancer their white counterparts.
• Just over half of all cases of cancer diagnosed in 2003-5 in England occurred in people over 70 years and over a fifth in people over 80 years.
• Smoking accounts for one in four cancer deaths and causes nine in ten cases of lung cancer. It also increases the risk of many more cancers including cancers of the mouth, oesophagus, liver, stomach, cervix and bowel.
• Men are almost 40% more likely than women to die from cancer.

The following organisations have published reports about cancer in the population. Follow the links below to view the reports.

West Midlands Cancer Intelligence Unit

• Local authority profiles
• Key cancer incidence and mortality data
• Excess cancer incidence and mortality due to deprivation

National Cancer Intelligence Network publications:

• One, five and ten-year cancer prevalence
• Routes to diagnosis
• How is the NCIN changing what we know about cancer?

Cancer Research UK

• Smoking and cancer
• UK incidence 2008

Birmingham Health and Wellbeing Partnership

• Cancer needs assessment