Death rates due to cancer in the European Union (EU) are falling faster for men than women, a new study has found.

The study predicts that 132 men out of every 100,000 will die from cancer this year, which is over eight per cent less than 2012, while the fall in death rate due to cancer among women will be only 3.6 per cent. At least 84.5 women out of every 100,000 will die due to cancer in 2017, according to the latest predictions for European cancer deaths in 2017.

"Overall, fewer women than men will die from cancer, but the fact that the rate of decline is slower in women than in men essentially reflects the different trends in lung and other tobacco-related cancers between the two sexes," said Carlo La Vecchia, Professor at the University of Milan in Italy.

 

The study, published in the journal Annals of Oncology, revealed that lung cancer deaths are actually higher for women aged between 25 and 44 than they are for men. It is predicted to rise about five per cent in 2017 to 14.5 per 100,000 women, whereas lung cancer death rates in men will decrease by 11 per cent to 33 per 100,000. Further, death rate from pancreatic cancer -- fourth highest cause of cancer death in both sexes -- will also increase by 3.5 per cent in women, the researchers revealed.

In 2017, 91,847 women (14 per 100,000) are predicted to die from breast cancer, making it the second highest cancer death rate in women after lung cancer. However, over four million deaths from cancer have been avoided in the 30 years since 1988, the researchers noted. "In 2017 alone, we predict that 253,915 deaths will be avoided in men and 107,780 in women due to the fall in death rates since 1988.

"The fact that we have managed to avoid over four million deaths from cancer in the past thirty years shows the effectiveness of strategies to prevent cancer and to detect and treat it better when it arises," La Vecchia said.