C_17_pubblicazioni_2220_allegato

Lifestyles and cancer section 1
The most common cancers in Europe are:
• Breast cancer
Breast cancer is by far the leading cancer in women by both incidence and mortality. Incidence
rates are generally higher in northern and western Europe and relatively low in
most eastern countries. This partly reflects the differing national prevalence of risk factors
associated with affluence and socio-economic status including parity, age at menstruation
and menopause, obesity, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. Some of
the differences may be attributable to the time-varying implementation of mammography
screening programs within Europe.
• Lung cancer
The incidence in men was highest in Central and Eastern European countries, and lowest
in the Northern European countries. The reverse was seen in women: elevated rates were
estimated in Northern Europe and low rates in Eastern Europe. These patterns reflect the
current phase of the lung cancer epidemic due to past smoking exposure. Lung cancer is
the leading cause of cancer death amongst men in all countries except Sweden, and women
die from lung cancer more commonly than from breast cancer in a growing number of
countries.
• Colorectal cancer
The incidence rates of colorectal cancer are slightly higher in men than in women. Elevated
rates of incidence were estimated in Central European countries - Slovakia (92 per
100,000), Hungary (87) and Czech Republic (81) in men, and in Norway (54), Denmark (53)
and The Netherlands (50) in women. There is up to a five-fold variation in the incidence
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