How common is cancer? We know that 1 in 3 people will develop cancer at some point in their life’s, what are the numbers for Grampian? How do they compare with the rest of Scotland?
The NHS Information Services Division collect this information and analyse the statistics. They produce a report that is updated regularly. You can find lots of information on all types of cancer in the “Cancer in Scotland Summary“. I’ve taken these numbers from two different sources, the April 2009 “Cancer in Scotland Summary” and the “Incidence by Local Council Area“. Be warned, only look at these pages if you like scrolling through pages and pages of Excel spreadsheets…
The ten, most common cancers, in women, in Grampian are:
1 Breast 2 Colorectal (Colon and Rectum, also known as bowel cancer) 3 Lung 4 Ovary 5 Uterus (also known as the womb)6 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (a cancer of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell)
7 Skin (melanoma) 8 Stomach 9 Oesophagus (the gullet, or food pipe that connects to the stomach)
10 Head and neck *
The numbers given below are average annual statistics taken from the years 1998-2002. These numbers are relatively small, so will vary a bit from year to year, this is normal and to be expected, which is why I have given the average of a few years. It’s reasonable to assume that similar numbers of people will have been diagnosed each year since the statistics were last updated in 2002.
Average Number of Cases of Cancer diagnosed each year, in women, in Grampian (1998-20002)
The graph and table above are a list of the ten most common, so if a cancer is not listed, that means there are fewer than 25 cases diagnosed in women, in Grampian, each year.
How does this compare with Scotland as a whole? The numbers are actually pretty similar.
| Most Common Cancers | Grampian | Scotland |
| 1 | Breast | Breast |
| 2 | Colorectal | Lung |
| 3 | Lung | Colorectal |
| 4 | Ovary | Ovary |
| 5 | Uterus | Skin (melanoma) |
| 6 | Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma | Uterus |
| 7 | Skin (melanoma) | Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma |
| 8 | Stomach | Stomach |
| 9 | Oesophagus | Head and Neck |
| 10 | Head and neck | Oesophagus |
*
In Grampian the second most common cancer is colorectal cancer, while in Scotland as a whole it is lung cancer, this is probably due to a slightly different number of smokers in Grampian compared to Scotland as a whole. While it is widely known that smoking increases your risk of lung cancer. It also increases your risk of mouth, voicebox, oesophagus, liver, pancreatic, stomach, kidney, bladder and cervical cancer as well as some types of leukemia.
The other cancers affect small numbers of people in Grampian so you would expect to see a bit of variation between the figures for Scotland as a whole and Grampian.
If you would like more information on any of the cancers listed above a good place to start is Macmillan – Different Types of Cancer or Cancer Research UK – Specific Cancers.
You can use the search button on this website to find local resources (in the North East of Scotland) or look at Cancer Services Info provided by CLAN and Gordon Rural Action. If you would like more information on one specific cancer, please feel free to contact me using the contact form or leave a comment below.
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