World Cancer Day
It is estimated that in 2010 there will be 24,532 new cases of cancer diagnosed in men and 16,433 in women
During 2010, there will be 24,532 new cases of cancer diagnosed in men and 16,433 in women. The most frequent will be prostate, lung and colorectal cancer in men and breast and colorectal cancer in women. Furthermore, in the future, the incidence of cancer will increase due to the ageing of the population.
However, cancer mortality is decreasing slightly (at the rate of 1.01% annually in women and 0.29% in men), mainly thanks to increasingly earlier diagnoses of the disease and improvements in treatments. Despite this, cancer has become the first cause of death in men and the second in women, after cardiovascular diseases.
The fight against cancer in Catalonia
The main tools for the fight against cancer are early detection and rapid diagnosis, which ensures that a maximum of thirty days will pass from the signs of suspected cancer until the beginning of treatment.
The current early detection programme of breast cancer covers all women in the country between the ages of 50 and 69. A pilot programme has also been launched for early detection of colorectal cancer in women and men between the ages of 50 and 69 and the programme is now becoming available throughout the country. Work is underway to improve screening for cervix cancer.
In the case of breast cancer in women, it has been observed in the last three years that this programme has served to reduce socio-economical inequalities in access to early detection. Fast diagnosis is applied in breast, lung and colorectal cancers, and is being extended to prostate and bladder tumours.
As well as these steps, research is also being promoted with the creation of the Catalan Cancer Registry, the Tumour Bank Network and the project "Cancer genome in the world environment".
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health highlights the importance of a healthy lifestyle, such as following a healthy diet, doing moderate exercise, avoiding excessive exposure to the sun, reducing the excessive consumption of alcohol and cutting out smoking, among others.
