Higher cancer risk

Across the border in Donegal the situation was even worse with people found to be more at risk from lung, kidney, colorectal, head, neck, stomach, bladder, skin, pancreatic and prostate cancer during the same timeframe.

The first all-Ireland cancer atlas - published on Friday - makes dismal reading for the North West and reveals there are major unexplained variations across the island in the risk of most common cancers,

Its authors say poverty, unemployment and higher population density can be partly blamed but admit there are many unexplained aspects to the alarming data.

According to the study there were areas of higher risk for colorectal cancer from Donegal to Down and also smaller areas of higher risk in Londonderry.

The report’s authors blamed “increasing population density for both sexes” and “unemployment for men only” for the increased risk of this cancer.

Both men and women from Londonderry and Donegal were also found to run a higher risk of developing lung cancer during the 12 year period.

Equally, the areas of higher risk for breast cancer were in the major urban areas of Londonderry, east Belfast (including North Down), Dublin, Cork and also in Limavady, Down, Ards and Castlereagh.

Elsewhere, coastal areas of Donegal were shown to be high risk areas for non-melanoma skin cancer, whilst between 1995 and 2007 the risk of prostate cancer tended to be higher in a number of areas in the west and north-west, including Donegal.

Donegal was also deemed to be a higher risk area for stomach, bladder and pancreatic cancer.

The report shows that men and women from Londonderry were also flagged as running a higher risk of developing head and neck cancer; whilst women from the Inishowen peninsula were discovered to run a higher risk.

Women from Londonderry and Donegal were also found to be at higher relative risk of developing kidney cancer. Women from Londonderry also ran a higher risk of developing uterine cancer than in Donegal and many parts of the Republic but the risk across Northern Ireland was uniform. Women from Donegal and Londonderry were at lower relative risk from cervical cancer.

Discussing the cancer figures generally the report’s authors pointed out that tobacco use was more prevalent in the Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh area than in other parts of Northern Ireland.

“Smoking is clearly established as a cause of many cancers. The highest smoking prevalence in NI in 2010 (26 per cent for men and 28 per cent for women) was in the Western Health and Social Services Board (HSSB)... The lowest smoking prevalence for men (22 per cent) was in the Northern HSSB and for women (19 per cent) in the Southern HSSB,” it notes.

The authors also suggest smoking is likely the main cause of the increased lung cancer risk although radon levels may help explain the geographical variations in risk.

“Smoking is the single most important risk factor for lung cancer...and the distribution of the cancer is likely to closely mimic that of smoking prevalence 15-20 years before the period reported here; that is, between 1975 and 1987.

“However, there is little available information on smoking prevalence for that period. Lung cancer risk was slightly higher in NI and showed the expected correlation with higher population density, higher unemployment and lower educational attainment.

“In NI the geographical pattern of lung cancer was similar for both sexes, and the higher risk was largely confined to Belfast, Derry and Newry.