Over the last three and a half decades, the rate of bowel cancer among British men has increased by 30 percent while there’s only been a 6 percent increase in women, according to Cancer Research UK.

The new data come from the awareness and fundraising campaign carried out by The Bobby Moore Fund.

In 1975, forty-five out of every 100,000 British men suffered from bowel cancer, this rate increased to 58 per 100,000 men in 2008-10. The rise translates into an overall increase of 29 percent in the prevalence of bowel cancer.

As the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK, bowel cancer has become a serious public health concern. According to a 2009 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, bowel cancer rates have also been increasing steadily worldwide.

Among women there’s only been a slight rise in the rate of bowel cancer, from 35 cases per 100,000 women in 1975 to 37 cases in 2008-10.

The most significant rise in the prevalence of the disease is among individuals in their 60s and 70s. There are over 23,000 new cases of bowel cancer among people in that age group every year.

Even though the rate of bowel cancer is increasing the rate of survival is improving at the same time.

The director of the National Cancer Research Network, Professor Matthew Seymour, professor of gastrointestinal cancer medicine at the University of Leeds, said:

“We know the risk of bowel cancer increases as we get older and, since we’re all living longer, it’s no surprise to see that the number of people getting the disease is rising.

But when we look at these figures and take people’s age into account, we still see that the risk of bowel cancer has gone up in men in the last 35 years. It’s important to find out what’s behind the rise and what we can do about it.”

The Bobby Moore Fund was created after Bobby died from bowel cancer, it was founded by Stephanie Moore MBE. The fund has invested close to £20m in research and awareness projects. Bobby Moore was captain of England’s World Cup winning team in 1966

Stephanie said: “It’s good to see that despite the rise in incidence, bowel cancer survival is improving. However, it’s vital we continue to fund research to fight this disease as these new statistics show.

She added:

“Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK, after lung cancer. Finding a way to beat bowel cancer has been my goal for the past two decades and my hope is that by increasing awareness and helping to fund Cancer Research UK’s vital research, many more lives can be saved from this terrible disease in the future.”

Researchers have found new ways of diagnosing the disease as well as improving early detection by identifying risk factors such as alcohol consumption, diet, weight, physical activity, and smoking.



Written by Joseph Nordqvist