Cancer in Canada

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A snapshot of this country’s most feared disease

Giancarlo La Giorgia

It’s one of the words you hope to never hear from your doctor: cancer. How much do you know about the prevalence of one of the most common illnesses affecting Canadians? Here are some statistics.

Heavy Toll

An estimated 166,400 new cases of cancer and 73,800 deaths from cancer will occur in Canada in 2008. The most frequently diagnosed cancer in women will continue to be breast cancer; for men it will be prostate cancer. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death for both sexes.

Common Killer

On the basis of current incidence rates, 40% of Canadian women and 45% of men will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Approximately one out of every four Canadians will die from malignant disease.

Smoking Sections

Lung cancer incidence and mortality rates are lowest in British Columbia. They are higher in New Brunswick and Quebec (with the exception of female cancer mortality rates in New Brunswick) — owing mainly to the historically widespread use of tobacco in Eastern Canada.

Lethal Habit

Almost 30% of cancer incidence and deaths in Canada — particularly lung cancer, one of the most preventable types — are due to tobacco use. Exposure to tobacco also increases the risk of cancers of the bladder, cervix, colon, rectum, esophagus, kidney, larynx, lung, mouth and pancreas.

Wasted Potential

Smoking is responsible for about one-third of the potential years of life lost because of cancer.

Lay Off The Lard About 20% of fatal malignancies, especially colon and prostate cancers, are associated with diets high in fat.

Photo: Aleksandr Stennikov/iStockphoto

Brighter Future

Approximately 850 Canadian children ages 14 and under develop cancer each year. Thanks to medical advances, however, the number of deaths is just one-sixth the number of cases.

Wayward White Cells

Leukemia accounts for 26% of new cancer cases and 28% of cancer deaths in children. It remains the most common childhood malignancy.

Smear Campaigns

Regular screening for cervical cancer with the Pap smear has reduced incidence and mortality rates by about 50% and 60%, respectively, since 1977.

Screening Saves

Nearly one-third of breast cancer deaths could be prevented if most women ages 50 to 69 were regularly screened with mammograms and clinical breast examinations. Nationally, only 34% of women participate in organized screening programs.

Good News

The five-year relative survival for breast cancer at the national level (excluding Quebec) was 86% for women diagnosed from 1996 to 1998.

Even Better News

Excluding lung cancer, mortality rates for all cancers in women have dropped by 20% since 1979.