Report Reveals CI Cancer Rates

An average of 164 people a year are dying from cancer each year in the Bailiwick, a new report has shown.

The biggest killers are lung, prostate and gastrointestinal cancers.

The Channel Islands Cancer Report is compiled from data collected between 2003 and 2016. 

It is produced for Guernsey and Jersey by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service

An average of 731 malignant tumours were registered in Guernsey each year in the five years to 2016. Almost half (48%) were non-melanoma skin cancers.

The next most common cancers are prostate, breast and bowel cancers.

Public Health says the data gives a reassuring picture that prevalence and mortality rates here are broadly similar to England - except for skin cancer:

"One notable exception is for skin cancers, where the major risk factor is UV exposure from sunlight or sunbeds. This reinforces the need for ongoing health promotion activity so that people of all ages can find ways to enjoy the sun safely and, importantly, to be able to recognise the possible signs of a skin cancer and know where to go to get advice." - Jenny Cataroche, Head of Health Intelligence.

Public Health has also raised concerns about the lag in collecting data , saying plans are in place to address this:

"Having timely data with the minimum reporting lag will put us in the best place to review and respond to any important changes in cancer incidence or death rates for our population."

Maria Blatchford, Medical Records Manager, confirmed that reporting lags arise when clinical coding activity exceeds related staff capacity to process.

She says the specialist roles have traditionally been hard to recruit to, but there has been a project to 'train our own' coders and the PEH now has the ability to reduce the backlog in diagnostic coding.