Cancer cases up 40% ... but your chances of survival have doubled
MORE than 352,000 people have cancer diagnosed each year in Britain – a 39 per cent increase in just 20 years, figures show.
However, survival rates have doubled over the past 40 years thanks to better treatments, more accurate tests, earlier diagnosis and screening programmes.
Analysis shows more than 179,000 men have cancer diagnosed each year in the UK compared with nearly 173,000 women.
But experts say an ageing and growing population is placing huge pressure on already overstretched NHS services.
Nick Ormiston- Smith, of Cancer Research UK, said: “People are living longer so more people are getting it. But the good news is more people are surviving their cancer.
“There’s still a huge variation in survival between different cancer types and there’s a lot of work to do to reach Cancer Research UK’s ambition for three in four patients to survive their disease by 2034.”
The race to find a cure for the disease comes as forecasts show that half the population will develop cancer at some point in their lives.
The figures, published today VIGOROUS exercise could help beat cancer by reducing the growth of tumours, research suggests.
Experiments show mice using a running wheel were able to shrink tumours by as much as 50 per cent.
Scientists believe the results are down to a surge of adrenaline produced during high- intensity workout.
It is thought the hormone moves cancer- killing immune cells – known as NK cells – towards lung, liver or skin tumours in mice.
The study, in the journal Cell Metabolism, involved mice injected with adrenaline to mimic the increase that occurs during exercise.
Once it was injected, the cells were mobilised and if a tumour was present they attacked it.
Dr Pernille Hojman, of the University of Copenhagen, said: “It is known that natural immune cells can control and regulate the size of tumours, but nobody had looked at how exercise regulates the system.
“We injected mice with adrenaline to mimic the increase seen during exercise and saw that the NK cells are mobilised to the bloodstream, and if there’s a tumour present the NK cells will find the tumour and home to it.
“One of the questions that cancer patients always ask is: How should I exercise? Can we do anything?
“While it has previously been difficult to advise people about the intensity at which they should exercise, our data suggest that it might be beneficial to exercise at a somewhat high intensity.”