There are some startling new figures in the latest report from the New Brunswick Cancer Network.
It shows an average of 4,588 new cases of cancer were diagnosed each year from 2007 to 2013 — a 17 per cent increase from the previous five-year period.
That’s an average of 12.6 new cancer cases each and every day.
Dr. Eshwar Kumar tells us an aging population is partly to blame but isn’t the sole reason.
“We as a community, not just New Brunswick but Atlantic Canada, tend not to be as physically active as our counterparts in the west,” says Kumar. “We tend not to eat as well, obesity and smoking rates are higher.”
New cancer cases will continue to grow
Kumar says we can’t change the fact people are aging, but we can take steps to reduce other risk factors.
If not, he says New Brunswick will see an average of 7,000 new cancer each year — 19.2 a day — by 2030.
Even though more cases are being diagnosed, Kumar says the overall survival rates are improving in the province.
“I think it’s a combination of the effectiveness of screening programs, so that we’re picking up cancers earlier, and also the more effective treatments that are now available to treat patients,” he says.
Kumar says lung cancer remains the leading cause of all cancer-related deaths and the province will need to consider developing a lung cancer screening program in the coming years.
You can see the full report by clicking here.
