The disease we fear most is more common than marriage

BEING diagnosed with cancer is now more common than getting married or having a first baby, figures reveal.

They show that 361,216 cancer cases were diagnosed in 2014 – the latest year for which figures were available – compared with 289,841 marriages and 271,050 births to first-time mothers.

Cancer is now almost as common as graduating from university – 370,910 students obtained their degree in 2014/15 – according to the figures compiled by Macmillan Cancer Support to highlight how prevalent the disease is.

A separate survey by the charity showed cancer is still our most feared disease – 37 per cent ranked it so, ahead of 27 per cent for Alzheimer’s and 7 per cent for strokes.

Another study by Macmillan found many develop the illness in the prime of life.

There were some 1.2million cancer diagnoses among the under-65s between 2006 and 2015. These included 343,000 cases in adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the figures show.