Lung cancer : Lung cancer - Mortality

Male lung cancer mortality in the EU

Lung cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer in the EU, accounting for 20% of all cancer deaths. Most lung cancer deaths still occur in men.

The importance of lung cancer as a cause of death has consistently grown throughout the twentieth century. In the early 1900s it was a rare disease causing fewer than 10 deaths in 100,000 men annually. By the 1950s, the lung cancer death rate has risen six-fold to 60 per 100,000 men. By the 1980s, the death rate was over 100 per 100,000 men. It peaked in the 1990s and has been declining since in most EU countries, particularly among younger age groups. An especially rapid decline in male mortality rates has been observed in countries with a history of high risk, such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and the UK (Bray et al., 2004).

In Eastern and Central Europe, the lung cancer mortality trends are similar, although less favourable. In most countries a decline in male mortality has been recorded in the 1990s. Exceptions are Hungary, where no decrease in mortality has been observed, but the increase rate has slowed down, and Poland where a plateau has been reached (Tyczynski et al., 2004 ).

Female lung cancer mortality in the EU

Female lung cancer mortality, although still appreciably lower than in the male population, rose by 17% from 1990-2000 in the EU-25. This increase was especially alarming among women younger than 55 years, where it increased more than 38%. The highest rises were observed in countries of Northern, Western, Central and Eastern Europe (Denmark, Germany Hungary, Poland). Only in the UK, Latvia and Lithuania has female lung cancer mortality been decreasing in the past decade.

In countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, the smoking prevalence has fallen in recent years. Consequently, in these countries a deceleration of increasing lung cancer mortality trends for women, as seen in the UK, may be expected in the future. In France, Spain and Austria, where smoking prevalence in women has increased in the 1990s, a further rise in female lung cancer mortality in the coming decade is likely (Levi et al., 2004).

Lung cancer mortality associated with educational level

Within the Eurothine project, relative inequalities in lung cancer mortality by level of education were compared between 16 European populations.
Among men a clear increase in lung cancer mortality is observed with a decreasing educational level. Large inequalities were observed among men aged 40-59 years in Eastern European and Baltic countries. Among men in Southern European populations inequalities were small or non-existent in all age groups.

Among women the association between lung cancer mortality rates and educational level varies more between regions. In general, inequalities among women are smaller than among men in all age groups. In the Southern European poulations a lower educational level is even associated with a lower lung cancer mortality (Eurothine, 2007). See also: EUphocus Health inequalities.