Statistics on preventable cancers

Around 4 in 10 UK cancer cases every year could be prevented (2015). ¹

Variation by sex and country is generally only a few percentage points, so these differences should be interpreted cautiously.

All Cancers Excluding Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer (C00-C96 Excl. C44), Number of Preventable Cases and Percentage of Total Cases Which Are Preventable, UK, 2015

Download this data [xlsx]

The proportion of cases which are preventable is slightly higher for males than for females. This is mainly because risk factor exposure (e.g. smoking prevalence) is generally higher in males than females. The higher risk factor exposure in males outweighs the larger number of sex-specific cancer types and risk factors in females.

The proportion of cases which are preventable is slightly higher in Scotland than in the other UK nations. This is mainly because risk factor exposure is generally higher in Scotland than the other UK nations. Variation in risk factor exposure by country reflects data quality and demographic differences. For example, deprivation is associated with smoking, and with susceptibility to environmental/societal factors such as food pricing and availability.[ ²

, ³]

Download this infographic in A4 for print(PDF, 699 KB), or in landscape format for presentations.

See also

About this data

Data is for: UK, 2015, ICD-10 C00-C97 excl. C44.

Lung cancer, bowel cancer, melanoma skin cancer, and breast cancer together account for almost two-thirds of all preventable cancer cases in the UK (2015).[ ¹

] The same is true for the four UK nations individually.

Cancer Types with Largest Number of Preventable Cases, UK, Persons, 2015

Download this data [xlsx]

For ten cancer types, more than 70% of cases are preventable (2015). For many of these cancer types there is one specific risk factor contributing all of the preventable cases, e.g. HIV for Kaposi sarcoma, and asbestos for mesothelioma. For some there are multiple risk factors e.g. smoking, occupation, air pollution and ionising radiation for lung cancer.

Cancer Types with Highest Proportion of Preventable Cases, UK, Persons, 2015

Download this data [xlsx]

See also

About this data

Data is for: UK, 2015, ICD-10 C00-C97 excl. C44.

Tobacco smoking is by far the largest cause of cancer in the UK (2015).[ ¹

] Overweight and obesity is the UK’s biggest cause of cancer after smoking. The same is true for the four UK nations individually.

Risk Factors by Number of Preventable Cases, UK, Persons, 2015

Download this data [xlsx]

Infections includes around 1,100 cases attributable to Epstein-Barr virus, which is difficult to prevent.

UK portrait version shown here. Country versions, cancers caused by other risk factors, and landscape formats are available for free from our cancer risk publications.

See also

About this data

Data is for: UK, 2015, ICD-10 C00-C97 excl. C44.