Cancer Incidence and Mortality in England and Wales Trends and Risk Factors

Cancer causes a quarter of all deaths in England and Wales. There is great professional and public interest in cancer trends, but no satisfactory source to which to turn to find information about these trends and explanation of them. It is even more difficult to know where to turn for information on trends in factors causing cancer. This book presents new analyses that bring together for the first time, data on cancer trends in the country since 1868. Detailed consideration is given to the reasons for changes in rates of cancer, in relation to a wide range of risk factors and preventive factors. Data are presented with figures and tables describing long-term trends in more than 50 factors that may affect the risk of cancer, including AIDS, asbestos exposure, cancer screening, childbearing, diet smoking and ultraviolet radiation. Particular attention is given to trends in recent decades, but historical trends are also considered. The book provides a comprehensive unparalleled source of data that are otherwise hard or impossible to find elsewhere and gives new analyses of cancer trends, in easily accessible form, with clear explanation.

Professor Anthony Swerdlow has worked in epidemiology for over 20 years; his research has concentrated mainly on the epidemiology of cancer, but he has also published research on other chronic diseases including type 1 diabetes and CJD. He is presently Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Sir Richard Doll is one of the world's foremost cancer epidemiologists. Dr Isabel Dos Santos Silva is clinical senior lecturer at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Following her medical schooling in Lisbon, she trained and worked as an epidemiologist in London. Her main areas of research are epidemiology of cancer and other chronic diseases. Sir Richard Doll is one of the world's foremost cancer epidemiologists.