Cancer incidence by age

Cancer is primarily a disease of older people, with incidence rates increasing with age for most cancers (Figure 3.1).1-4 More than three out of five (63%) cancers are diagnosed in people aged 65 and over, and more than a third (36%) are diagnosed in the elderly (aged 75 and over).

Figure 3.1: All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C97 Excl. C44) Average Number of New Cases per Year and Age-Specific Incidence Rates, UK, 2008-2010

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Figures 3.2 and 3.3 show the five most commonly diagnosed cancers in males and females, respectively, by age group.1-5

Figure 3.2: The 5 Most Commonly Diagnosed Cancers in Males, Average Percentages and Numbers of New Cases, by Age, UK, 2008-2010

*The proportions of childhood cancers are for children diagnosed during 2006-2007 in Great Britain.
CNS = Central Nervous System
NHL = Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
SNS = Sympathetic Nervous System
For all ages except 0-14, ‘Brain & CNS’ refers to invasive tumours only. The numbers of childhood cancers also include non-invasive tumours of the brain and CNS.

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Figure 3.3: The 5 Most Commonly Diagnosed Cancers in Females, Average Percentages and Numbers of New Cases, by Age, UK, 2008-2010

*The proportions of childhood cancers are for children diagnosed during 2006-2007 in Great Britain.
CNS = Central nervous System
NHL = Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
SNS = Sympathetic Nervous System
For all ages except 0-14, ‘Brain & CNS’ refers to invasive tumours only. The numbers of childhood cancers also include non-invasive tumours of the brain and CNS.

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section reviewed 19/12/12
section updated 19/12/12

Cancer is relatively rare in children, with less than one per cent of the total cancers being diagnosed in this age group.1-4 An average of 883 and 720 cases per year (including the non-invasive brain and CNS tumours) were diagnosed in boys and girls, respectively, in the UK during 2008 to 2010. 

The risk of a child developing cancer by 14 years of age in Great Britain is around 1 in 500.6 Leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer (Figures 3.2 and 3.3), accounting for around a third of all cases in boys and girls (31% and 29%, respectively) in Great Britain during 2006 to 2007.5 More information can be found in the childhood cancer section.

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Like in children, cancer is also relatively rare in teenagers and young adults, with less than one per cent of the total cancers being diagnosed in this age group.1-4 In the UK during 2008 to 2010, an average of 1,084 and 986 cases per year were diagnosed in males and females, respectively. The most common cancer in young men is testicular, accounting for more than a quarter (26%) of the total (Figure 3.2). Other common cancers for males in this age group include Hodgkin lymphoma (16%) and leukaemia (11%). The most common cancers in young women (Figure 3.3) are Hodgkin lymphoma and malignant melanoma (16% each).

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section updated 19/12/12

Almost twice as many cases are diagnosed in women (an average of 21,426 cases per year in the UK during 2008 to 2010) compared with men (10,941); this difference can be attributed to the high incidence of breast cancer in women, which accounts for 45% of all female cancers in this age group (Figure 3.3).1-4 The vast majority of these breast cancers will be diagnosed symptomatically since all women aged 25-49 are too young for routine breast screening. Women between the ages of 50-70 are invited for breast screening every three years in the UK; in England a trial is taking place to look at the possible benefits of extending breast screening so that women aged 47 to 50 and 70 to 73 are also invited.7

Other common cancers for females in this age group are malignant melanoma and cervical cancer (9% each), though many more cervical cancers will have been prevented though cervical screening. Women are invited for cervical screening every three or five years in the UK. The target age range varies by country: women are invited between the ages of 25 to 64 in England and Northern Ireland; in Scotland and Wales cervical screening starts at age 20. It is estimated that cervical screening saves up to 5,000 lives each year in the UK,8  preventing between 45% and 75% of cervical cancer cases in women who attend regularly.9

The most common cancers in men aged 25-49 (Figure 3.2) are testicular (15%), malignant melanoma (11%) and bowel (9%).1-4 Prostate cancer only contributes 4% of the cancers diagnosed in this age group. When breast cancer and the sex-specific cancers for both men and women are excluded from the male:female ratio, a greater number of men are at risk of the non sex-specific cancers.10,11

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section updated 19/12/12

Adults aged 50-74 carry the greatest burden of cancer, with over half (53%) of all cancers being diagnosed in this age group. There are more cases in this group than in the elderly (in whom rates are higher), because the population size of 50-74 year-olds is larger.1-4 Slightly more cases are diagnosed in males (an average of 90,680 per year in the UK during 2008 to 2010) than in females (80,193).

Prostate cancer accounts for more than one in four (28%) cases diagnosed in men aged 50-74 (Figure 3.2).1-4 Other common cancers for males in this age group are lung and bowel cancer (14% each). Over a third (34%) of cases diagnosed in females aged 50-74 are breast cancers (Figure 3.3),1-4 many of which are diagnosed through screening. Lung and bowel cancers account for 12% and 10% of cases, respectively. 

Some of these bowel cancers will have been among the first to be detected through the UK national bowel screening programmes, which were introduced in the UK from 2006 onwards. The bowel screening programme in England offers screening every two years to people aged 60-69, and is also currently being extended to include men and women aged 70-74. In Northern Ireland, people are offered bowel screening every two years from age 60-69, in Scotland people are offered the test from age 50-74, and in Wales people are offered screening from age 60-74.

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Over a third (36%) of all cancers are diagnosed in the elderly.1-4 The relatively small population of this age group, however, means that incidence rates peak in the elderly for most cancers (Figure 3.1). Slightly more cases are diagnosed in males (an average of 59,409 per year in the UK during 2008 to 2010) than in females (56,421). 

A quarter of cancers diagnosed in elderly men are prostate cancers (Figure 3.2).1-4 Research suggests that prostate cancer in men aged over 70 is often more aggressive, diagnosed at a later stage, and has a larger tumour volume compared with men aged 69 and under.11-13 Other common cancers for males in this age group are lung (17%) and bowel cancer (15%).

The most common cancers in elderly women (Figure 3.3) are breast (21%), bowel (15%) and lung (15%).1-4 Some studies have shown that elderly women tend to present with breast tumours that have a more favourable biologic profile (such as a higher percentage of oestrogen receptor-positive tumours with increased age, and reduced proliferation markers).14

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section updated 19/12/12

 Incidence rates for all cancers combined have overall increased for all of the broad age groups in Great Britain since the mid-1970s (Figure 3.4).1-3 The highest European age-standardised (AS) incidence rates are in the 75+ age group, where rates steadily increased from 1,669 cases per 100,000 in 1975-1977 to around 2,350 per 100,000 in the late 1990s/early 2000s; incidence rates have changed very little in the last decade, increasing by less than 1% between 1999-2001 and 2008-2010. Incidence rates for people aged 60-74 increased from 1,028 cases per 100,000 in 1975-1977 to 1,409 per 100,000 in 2008-2010 (an increase of 37%), with an 8% increase in the last decade.

Figure 3.4: All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C97 Excl. C44), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, By Age, Great Britain, 1975-2010

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Similarly, European AS incidence rates for people aged 40-59 have also continued to steadily increase since the mid-1970s, from 324 cases per 100,000 in 1975-1977 to 400 per 100,000 in 2008-2010 (an increase of 23%) (Figure 3.4).1-3 Much of this increase is likely to be due to the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test for prostate cancer and breast screening; rates of prostate cancer in males aged 40-59 have risen almost eight-fold since the mid-1970s, from 7 cases per 100,000 men in 1975-1977 to 55 per 100,000 in 2008-2010 (Figure 3.5);1-3 whilst for females aged 40-59, breast cancer incidence rates have increased by 67% from 131 cases per 100,000 women in 1975-1977 to 219 per 100,000 in 2008-2010 (Figure 3.6).1-3

There have also been large increases in incidence of malignant melanoma in this age group, with European AS rates in males increasing more than five-fold from 4 cases per 100,000 in the mid-1970s to 21 per 100,000 in 2008-2010 (Figure 3.5).1-3 Rates in females increased nearly four-fold over the same period from 7 cases per 100,000 to 25 per 100,000 (Figure 3.6).1-3

In contrast, there has been a fall in the incidence of lung cancer in middle-aged men, with the European AS incidence rate decreasing by 64% from 98 cases per 100,000 men in 1975-1977 to 36 per 100,000 in 2008-2010 (Figure 3.5).1-3

Figure 3.5: The Four Most Commonly Diagnosed Cancers and All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C97 Excl. C44), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, 40-59 Year-Olds, Males, Great Britain, 1975-2010

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Figure 3.6: The Four Most Commonly Diagnosed Cancers and All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C97 Excl. C44), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, 40-59 Year-Olds, Females, Great Britain, 1975-2010

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Incidence of cancer in the under-40s is relatively rare, but the European age-standardised incidence rates have still risen by 48% since the mid-1970s, from 29 cases per 100,000 in 1975-1977 to 43 per 100,000 in 2008-2010 (Figure 3.4).1-3

section reviewed 19/12/12
section updated 19/12/12