According to the Annals of Oncology, this is already the case in the UK. The rise in deaths caused by lung cancer is thought to stem from the large number of women who started smoking in the ’60s and ’70s.
The lung cancer death rate is set to continue to rise for the next few years before decreasing again. 2013 will see 82,640 European women dying from lung cancer, while 88,886 women will die from breast cancer. By 2015, lung cancer is due to take the lead before going down again sometime between 2020 and 2025. The decrease is likely to happen because of a new generation of women who smoke less.
Prof Carlo Vecchia and his colleagues investigated cancer death rates in Europe and revealed that while more people are developing cancer (due to living longer) it appears that, overall, less are dying from the disease.
Despite the overall decline in cancer-related deaths, lung cancer rates continue to rise among women throughout the EU.
Sarah Williams from Cancer Research UK has expressed that although it is encouraging that the overall rate of cancer-related deaths are falling, it is worrying that lung cancer rates continue to rise. She said the figures have highlighted the need to reduce the number of people who smoke, through helping people quit and standardising packaging in a bid to stop people starting.
In the UK 157,000 children start smoking every year – experts have professed an urgent need to reduce these numbers.
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