The main features of the five years covered by the report Cancer in Ireland 1994-1998 can be summarised as follows. Almost 20,000 new cases of cancer and 7,500 cancer deaths occurred every year; the commonest cancers were those of skin, large bowel, lung, breast – in women – and prostate – in men; overall, men and women had similar risks of developing cancer; between 1994 and 1998 there was no significant change in the risk of developing or dying from cancer; cancer incidence in Ireland was quite similar to that in neighbouring countries; and the majority of patients had their cancers removed surgically and overall survival from cancer was 43% and was generally better for women.
I understand that the Deputy has already been advised by the National Cancer Registry Board, on foot of parliamentary questions he asked on 28 February 2001, that there is not enough data to make meaningful comparisons on a county by county basis. The National Cancer Registry gives a detailed breakdown of all incident cases of the various forms of cancer in appendix 5 of its report. Given the amount of information that this covers, I am arranging that a copy of the report be furnished to the Deputy under separate cover.
Overall, and for most common cancers, cancer rates in Ireland for the five years covered by the report were lower than in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, higher than in England and close to EU averages. Exceptions were breast cancer, where our risk was lower than that of the neighbouring countries and lung cancer in women, for which our risk was well above EU average. As the Deputy has already been advised on 4 April 2001, comparisons with US data are less reliable than with European figures because of the limited coverage of cancer registration in the US until recently. I have also been advised by the National Cancer Registry Board that cancer registration in Japan only covers a minority of the population and as such cannot be used as a reliable comparison.
