“Worrying” increase in lung and pancreatic cancers among women in France

A gender disparity that is striking. Lung and pancreatic cancers are “a worrying increase” in women, while in men, the most common cancers (prostate, lung, colorectal) are stabilizing or even decreasing, according to the 2024 panorama of the National Cancer Institute published on Thursday, September 26. Due firstly to the increase in the population and the aging of the French population, but also to risks linked to lifestyles, the incidence of cancers has increased significantly over the last 20 years and exceeded the estimated 433,000 new cases in 2023.

Cancers, responsible for more than 162,400 deaths in France each year, are the leading cause of death in men, the second in women after cardiovascular diseases. The most common remain, in men, prostate cancer (59,885 cases), lung cancer (33,438 cases) and colon and rectal cancer (26,212 cases). In women, they are breast cancer (61,214 cases), colorectal cancer (21,370 cases) and lung cancer (19,339 cases), according to the fourth edition of the cancer panorama.

“While these latest estimates describe a rather encouraging situation for men, with a decrease in incidence or stability for these locations, two cancers show a worrying increase in the incidence rate in women over the period 2010-2023: lung cancer (+4.3% per year), pancreatic cancer (+2.1% per year)”the Inca emphasizes. A major factor in this development: tobacco consumption, “started in the 1970s/80s among women”later than in men.

Over the years, mortality from cancer has generally decreased thanks to earlier detection and advances in treatment. However, this decrease appears to be more marked in men than in women, due to “earlier diagnoses and significant therapeutic advances among the most common cancers” among the first, according to the Inca.