Cancer leading killer

Press, 2 March 1984, Page 4

Cancer leading killer

Cancer is still the second leading cause of death after heart disease in New Zealand, according to a report issued this week by the National Health Statistics Centre. The report, “Cancer Data, 1983 edition,” is a compilation of cancer statistics from 1979. There were 8884 new cases and 5366 deaths from cancer in 1979. The equivalent of 900 hospital beds were permanently occupied by cancer patients in that year. The Chief Health Statistician, Mr F. H. Foster, said

there had been a marked increase in the incidence of female lung cancer in recent years. “In 1970, lung cancer ranked sixth in a list of major sites of female cancer, but had risen to third in the late 1970 s after cancer of the breast and colon,” said Mr Foster. In males the main site of cancer in new cases was the lung, followed by the prostate gland and the colon. About 96 per cent of lung

cancer sufferers were regular or formerly regular smokers. The proportion of new patients who received treatment within three months of noticing symptoms had remained at a constant 55 per cent for some years, said Mr Foster. However, 12 per cent of new patients had symptoms for more than a year before treatment began. “A quarter of all new cases registered in 1979 received no treatment to the tumour, usually because of the extent of the disease and the age and general condition of the patient,” said Mr Foster.