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Wednesday, December 31, 1997 Published at 09:03 GMT

Cancer deaths at ten year low
image: [ Falling number of smokers has helped cut cancer toll ]

Falling number of smokers has helped cut cancer toll

The death toll from cancer in Britain has fallen to its lowest level for ten years, as the benefit of preventive measures finally starts to be felt.

Improving detection and screening, combined with better treatment and greater awareness of how to cut the risk of contracting cancer are being credited with the fall in deaths.

The Cancer Research Campaign, which has published the figures, said there were 5,000 fewer deaths than in the early 1990s.

Professor James Coombes explains the fall to BBC Radio Four's Today programme
But experts from the charity have warned that it is too early to know whether the fall is part of a trend and that the number of deaths will continue to fall.

Last year, around 153,000 people died from the disease in Britain compared with about 158,000 in the early 1990s. The fall consists of:

Fewer men dying of lung cancer
Fewer women dying of breast cancer
Children and young people making better recoveries.

However, the deaths from skin and prostate cancer are still a cause for concern, the charity said.

Dr John Toy, the charity's director of clinical programmes, said: "Although it is too early to predict a consistent trend, these figures are very encouraging and show a new low for cancer mortality in Britain over the last ten years.

"We believe that a greater understanding of cancer is the reason for this success story."

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