Hidden cancer risk of escaping rat race for life in the country
LIVING in the country and escaping the rat race may be the dream for some but it makes you less likely to survive a cancer diagnosis, Scots research has found.
People living in remote rural areas were 5 per cent more likely to die of cancer than city dwellers, scientists said.
Possible reasons for the discrepancy are living further away from cancer treatment centres – and delaying seeking treatment.
Aberdeen University scientists reviewed 39 studies carried out around the world to systematically review the impact of home area on cancer.
They found that in 30 of the 39 studies there was a clear ‘survival disadvantage’ for rural people compared to their urban counterparts.
About one in five people around the world live rurally – a figure which also holds true for the UK, where around 11.9million people live in the country. The research outlines a number of reasons specific to those who live in rural areas that could explain the survival gap.
Rural patients may delay seeking help until their symptoms are more serious than those living in cities – possibly due to work or family commitments.
Poorer transport in rural areas may be a factor, as may the location of cancer treatment centres – acting as a deterrent as it is more time consuming to get help.
Lead investigator, Professor Peter Murchie, a GP and primary care cancer expert from the University of Aberdeen said: ‘A previous study showed the inequality faced by rural cancer dwellers in northeast Scotland and we wanted to see if this was replicated in other parts of the world.
‘It is indeed the case that if you have cancer and live rurally anywhere in the world, you are 5 per cent less likely to survive it.
‘The task now is to analyse why this is the case and what can be done to close this inequality gap.’
Cancers vary in their frequency depending on whether people live in city or country areas, according to the UK’s National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service.
For example, lung cancer rates in rural areas are two thirds of those in the cities, but breast and prostate cancer incidence rates are higher in village areas by 8 per cent and 11 per cent.
Colorectal cancer is higher in women living in village areas by 6 per cent, but not for males.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘As treatments for conditions such as cancer become more complex and expensive, it can become necessary to deliver them at specialist locations, but where possible and clinically appropriate this should be complemented by services planned and delivered at local level.’