Why are cancer cases increasing in women but not men in the UK?
Governments, researchers and organisations (including World Cancer Research Fund) need to keep track of how the number of cancer cases in the UK changes from year to year. This helps with the planning, development, and undertaking of cancer research and evidence-based policy.
Each of the 4 devolved nations of the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) regularly report cancer incidence, as well as mortality, through their Cancer Registries. World Cancer Research Fund then uses these data to produce detailed cancer incidence and mortality tables and publishes this information on our website. At the same time, we analyse the data to see how cancer numbers are changing.
Comparing cases of cancer in the UK from 2019 to 2021
In 2021, the most recent year for which data are available, there were 395,181 cases of cancer in the UK. Of these, 200,870 were in men (up very slightly from 200,386 in 2019) and 194,311 in women (up from 187,434 in 2019).
Cancer cases: 2019 and 2021
| Men | Women | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 200,386 | 187,434 | 387,820 |
| 2021 | 200,870 | 194,311 | 395,181 |
In terms of percentage changes, cancer incidence among women increased by 3.7% between 2019 and 2021 but stayed pretty much the same for men (increasing by only 0.2%). This means that while the number of cases only increased significantly among women, there was still an overall increase of approximately 7,400 cases, or 2%.
So, although men still experience more cases of cancer than women, the difference in the number of cases between the sexes fell from approximately 12,900 in 2019 to approximately 6,500 in 2021.
How are cases of the most common cancers changing in men and women?
Breast cancer remained the most common type of cancer among women in the UK, with 59,155 new cases in 2021 – approximately 30% of all cancers. This was followed by lung (23,972) and colorectal cancer (21,945). Our analysis shows that, between 2019 and 2021, cases of all 3 increased in women.
Among men, prostate cancer was the most common cancer in the UK. In 2021, 51,575 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed – approximately 26% of all new cases of cancer – followed by colorectal (27,969) and lung (24,932). While cases of prostate and lung cancer decreased, colorectal cancer cases increased.
Cases of the top 3 site-specific cancers in the UK in 2019 and 2021
| 2019 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Women | ||
| Breast | 56,601 | 59,115 |
| Lung | 23,614 | 23,972 |
| Colorectal | 20,759 | 21,945 |
| Men | ||
| Prostate | 55,068 | 51,575 |
| Colorectal | 25,303 | 27,969 |
| Lung | 25,140 | 24,932 |
Why is the overall number of cancer cases increasing in women but not in men?
There could be several reasons for this. One of the most important is that approximately 40% of all cancers could be prevented by changes in modifiable risk factors – things in our behaviour or environment that can be changed and make the development of cancer more or less likely. For 2021, this would equate to approximately 158,000 cases of cancer prevented.
When we talk about modifiable risk factors for cancer, these include not smoking, avoiding the sun, maintaining a healthy body weight, being physically active, and eating a healthy diet.
> More information about what is included in a healthy diet
Simply put, it is likely that any changes in the number of new cancer cases are partially explained by changes in the rates of these behaviours. This will be particularly true for those cancers for which there is strong evidence that behaviour increases risk. One recent example of this is rates of smoking declining among men while still increasing among women. As a result, it is predicted that cases of lung cancer among women will outnumber those among men in the next couple of years.
The links between modifiable behaviours and cancer are supported by a growing body of research demonstrating that following our Cancer Prevention Recommendations can help people reduce their cancer risk.
