Cancers caused by smoking hit record high, with 160 people diagnosed every day - despite fall in smoking rates
Smoking-related cancers have reached a record high with 160 people diagnosed every day, new figures show.
There has been a 17 per cent surge in cases over the last two decades with the likes of liver, throat and kidney cancers doubling in this time, according to analysis by Cancer Research UK.
While smoking rates are falling, the growing population means there are still around 6.4 million smokers in the UK.
The charity is calling on the new government to push ahead with the Tories’ Tobacco and Vapes Bill, reintroducing it in the first King's Speech later this month.
Tobacco is known to cause 16 different types of cancer, with lung cancer alone causing 33,000 cases annually
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2023 health report showed 12.7 per cent of Brits over the age of 15 smoke cigarettes daily, far higher than the US and New Zealand
It would have made it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 2009 effectively stopping further generations from smoking.
Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy, said: ‘Every hour, six families' lives are changed forever by an illness that could have been prevented.
‘Smoking is a uniquely toxic consumer product and has no place in our future.
‘Raising the age of sale of tobacco products will be one of the biggest public health interventions in living memory, establishing the UK as a world leader.
‘It's vital that this Bill is re-introduced at the King's Speech, passed and implemented in full so the impact of smoking is consigned to the history books.’
Data from the charity shows there were around 57,600 diagnoses of cancers caused by smoking in 2023, compared to 49,325 in 2003.
Tobacco is known to cause 16 different types of cancer, with lung cancer alone causing 33,000 cases annually.
For the first time, cases of breast cancer have been included in the analysis following growing scientific evidence of its links to smoking.
Figures for previous years have been adjusted to reflect this with 2,200 cases of breast cancer every year in the UK.
Cases of liver cancer due to smoking have increased from 711 in 2003 to 1,630 last year. Similarly, kidney cases rose from 1,215 to 2,151 and throat from 619 to 1,261 over the same time period.
Elsewhere, cancer specialists warned the UK is at a tipping point with cancer services and called for a national cancer strategy to reverse fortunes.
Writing in the Lancet Oncology, they said there had been ongoing failures to reduce cancer survival inequalities and warned treatment delays were costing lives.
Oncologists from hospitals including Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust, Imperial College London and University College London, warned the UK has one of the highest rates of cancer diagnoses following emergency admissions.
They argue ‘novel solutions’ such as new diagnostic tests have been wrongly hyped as ‘fixes’ for the cancer crisis, but note that ‘none address the fundamental issues of cancer as a systems problem.’
Calling for system-wide reform to cut cancer care inequality and drive up earlier diagnosis and timely treatment, they put forward several policy recommendations, including expanding national audits of care.
Professor Pat Price, co-founder of the catch-up with cancer campaign and chair of Radiotherapy UK, said cancer services are in crisis, adding that the ‘tragedy is that it doesn't have to be this way’.
She said: ‘The cancer community knows what needs to be done and how to do it. Too often, policymakers focus on one aspect, like diagnosis, but that alone isn't enough.
‘If you boost diagnosis but don't treat people on time, the newly diagnosed patients just end up stuck on long waiting lists. We need quick diagnosis and timely treatment.’
She added: ‘Cancer is a complex disease. But the starting point to tackling our poor survival outcomes is simple: get a plan.
‘Reverse the decision made by the last Government to scrap the national cancer control plan. All the international evidence shows that countries with national cancer plans have better survival. And make sure the plan is properly resourced and ensures we treat on time as well as diagnose early.’
