LuCE REPORT ON LUNG CANCER Challenges in lung cancer in Europe

Incidence of lung cancer in the EU countries*,
by age-standardized rate (world) in both
sexes
There are important differences in the lifetime risk of developing
this disease across different countries. For instance, around 3 out
of 100 men in Sweden, Cyprus, Finland and Malta will develop lung
cancer during their lives, while this number goes up to 9 in every
100 in Hungary, and to 7 in every 100 men in Poland, Belgium,
Croatia, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia3. The incidence rate in 23
European countries is higher than the worldwide average (23.1
per 100,000). Hungary has the highest incidence of lung cancer,
with an age-standardized rate of 51.6 per 100,000. This is more
than 20 points higher than the EU average, and 28 higher than
the worldwide rate. In the EU, Hungary is followed by Denmark,
Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. These countries also
present high rates of incidence (over 36.0 per 100,000).
Considering absolute numbers, lung cancer is the highest cancer
incidence in four European countries (Greece, Hungary, Poland
and Romania) and the second highest in Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia
and Lithuania
*EU-28 (+ Israel + Norway + Switzerland: included because they have
patient member organisations of Lung Cancer Europe)
Source: GLOBOCAN 2012
16 17