Incidence of cancer generally expected to increase 20% by 2040
The incidence of cancer in Portugal is expected to increase by 20% by 2040, with the country having the highest rates of oncological disease in children in the European Union, a study released today has warned.
The data is included in the cancer profile in Portugal presented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission (EC), which states that cancer is the second leading cause of death in this country, with the mortality rate decreasing at a slower rate than the EU average.
The estimates presented in the study point to an increase in new cases of cancer in all European Union (EU) countries between 2022 and 2040 – but with Portugal registering the most significant growth.
In Portugal, new cancer cases are expected to increase by 12% by 2030 and 20% by 2040, ie above the EU averages of 9% by 2030 and 18% by 2040.
The OECD and the EC also report that, in 2022, 245 children and adolescents up to the age of 15 will have been diagnosed with cancer, which represents the highest incidence rate (19 cases per 100,000 children) among EU countries and Iceland and Norway – above the EU average of 14 cases per 100,000 children.
As is the case in the EU, in Portugal the incidence rate for boys is slightly higher than that for girls, and both rates are approximately 30% higher than the EU average.
The director of the National Programme for Oncological Diseases, José Dinis, told Lusa that this high incidence rate can be explained by the cases that Portugal receives from Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) and which are reported as being national and not from the children’s countries of origin.
Despite the high incidence rate of pediatric cancer in Portugal, the amount of research carried out at national level is relatively low, the study also warns, pointing out that, between 2010 and 2022, Portugal registered only 22 clinical trials with children and young people, which represented 5% of the 436 trials carried out at European level during this period.
“This figure is significantly lower than that of countries with a similar population size, such as the Czech Republic (14%)”, say the OECD and EC, which add that, in 2018, 84% of the 68 medicines identified as essential for the treatment of cancer in patients aged between 0 and 18 were available in Portugal, compared to an average of 76% in the EU.
The study now released also reveals that, in 2021, Portugal recorded one of the greatest inequalities between men and women in terms of cancer mortality.
Men (318 per 100,000) have a cancer mortality rate that is nearly twice that of women (161 per 100,000), which is partly explained by the three most deadly cancer sites – lung, colon and rectum, and stomach – and the higher prevalence of behavioral risk factors.
Between 2011 and 2021, cancer mortality in Portugal decreased by 8%, a reduction that was lower than the 12% recorded in the EU, also indicates the OECD and EC profile, which highlights that improvements in mortality fell short of those in other countries, especially among people under 65.
During this period, however, Portugal managed to reduce mortality rates from some of the most common types of cancer – such as bladder (-34%), cervical (-26%), colorectal (-22%) and prostate (-22%) – more quickly than the EU average.
Lung cancer mortality rates decreased by 3% among men, but increased by almost 23% among women, reflecting the evolution of behavioral risk factor patterns, according to the profile of the disease
LUSA
