Cancer in Yorkshire

Sadly, people in Yorkshire are more likely to get cancer and more likely to die of cancer than in many other parts of England.

As Yorkshire's cancer charity, Yorkshire Cancer Research exists to change this.

 

1. Yorkshire's large geography
   Yorkshire is a diverse region with large cities and vast coastal and rural communities⁴. This can create many different challenges and sadly, not everyone in Yorkshire is able to access to the highest quality of cancer services and treatment. We are working to change this, sharing best practice across the region.
    
2. Late-stage cancer diagnosis
   Nearly half of cancers diagnosed in Yorkshire are at a late stage⁵, a higher proportion than the England average. This means that thousands of people each year are not diagnosed at an early stage, when there are often more treatment options available, and treatment is more likely to be successful.
    
3. Screening for cancer
   Not everyone takes part in bowel, breast or cervical cancer screening when they are invited to do so, missing the opportunity to detect cancer at the earliest possible stage or prevent it altogether. In Yorkshire, seven in 10 people are up to date with their cancer screening.⁶
    
4. Smoking and lung cancer
   Yorkshire has the highest smoking rate in England and lung cancer causes around 3,000 cancer deaths here each year, more than any other cancer^3,7. Recognising that smoking is an addiction that often starts in childhood and helping people to stop smoking is essential to reducing cancer rates across our region.
    
5. Funding for cancer research
   Evidence shows that hospitals with higher levels of clinical research activity are linked with improved health outcomes, including for some types of cancer^8,9. Hospitals with greater research activity are often faster to adopt innovative treatments, which can provide benefits to a wider group of patients. Yorkshire receives 5% of health research funding but the region represents 8% of the UK population^10,11. Yorkshire Cancer Research funding helps attract talented cancer researchers and experts to our region, for the benefit of everyone living in Yorkshire. 
    

1. Fingertips, Mortality Profile

2. NDRS, Cancer registration statistics 

3. Nomis, mortality statistics

4. Reconceptualising Rural Cancer Inequalities: Time for a New Research Agenda

5. NDRS, Stage at diagnosis 

6. Fingertips, Cancer Services Profile 

7. Fingertips, Smoking Profile

8. Ozdemir, Baris A., et al. "Research activity and the association with mortality." PloS one 10.2 (2015): e0118253.

9. Downing A,, et al. “High hospital research participation and improved colorectal cancer survival outcomes: a population-based study. Gut. 2017;66(1):89-96.

10. UK Health Research Analysis Report 2022

11. Office for National Statistics, Population estimates