Headline message

People under 75 will be less likely to get cancer

Detailed goal

The chances of a person developing cancer up to the age of 75 will fall from more than one in four to one in five.

Background information and strategies

How we will measure this

We will measure the risk of getting cancer for people under the age of 75, and update this annually by using cancer registry incidence data and population data from the Government Actuary's Department (GAD).

The current situation

At the 2006 National Cancer Research Institute Conference, Professor Henrik Møller, an expert in cancer epidemiology, presented information about the risk of being diagnosed with cancer up to the age of 75. The risk is currently 27% for men and 24% for women. Cancer risk increases with age and is highest in older people – the ageing UK population will lead to an increase in the overall risk of being diagnosed with cancer. Prevention initiatives have great potential to reduce the risk in younger people.

We will achieve this goal by:

• Supporting research to understand the risk factors that contribute to cancer development
• Supporting research to test cancer prevention strategies
• Promoting the best cancer prevention strategies to Government, commercial organisations and those responsible for public health
• Developing our understanding of likely future cancer trends and sharing this with Government, healthcare professionals, members of the public and our other partners
• Supporting local or national initiatives to improve health awareness and cancer prevention.

We hope this work will also be supported by:

Other research organisations

• Conducting research alongside or in partnership with Cancer Research UK

Government

• Promoting health awareness through public education
• Developing and implementing risk reduction campaigns.