Public health has stressed the importance of protecting yourself from the sun and making healthy lifestyle choices as new data reaffirmed some types of cancer are more prevalent in Guernsey than England.
The latest Channel Islands cancer report was released this week, comparing Guernsey, Jersey, and England between 2009 and 2022.
An average of 735 malignant cancers were registered each year in Guernsey between 2020 and 2022, with 36% of these being non-melanoma skin cancers.
That’s a rate of 667 per 100,000 population for all types of cancer, which the report produced by NHS England says is significantly higher than the mainland.
There was an average of 179 deaths per year over the same period, with the three main causes of death being lung, upper gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer.
The report noted that the rates of death do not significantly differ from comparable places, with men aged between 55-59 at higher risk.
The age-standardised rate of all cancers combined, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers, is statistically significantly higher than the equivalent rates for England and the Southwest region, the report says.
Uterus cancer was found to be lower, while kidney and ureter cancer was lower than the southwest but not different to England. Lung cancer was found to be lower than the English average, but it did not differ from the southwest.
Jenny Cataroche, Head of Public Health Intelligence, said while some cancers are less prevalent that in the southwest of England, there are five types, and the level of all cancers combined, that are higher locally.
“We continue to see significantly higher rates of malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers than nearby areas. The major risk factor for these cancers is UV exposure from the sun or sun beds which is why it’s so important to follow sun safety advice.”
Alex Hawkins-Drew, Associate Director of Public Health, said around 4 in 10 of all cancer cases can be prevented and called for the community to be mindful of lifestyle choices that can reduce the risk.
“Public Health will continue to advocate for change at a higher level, such as with the recent ban on smoking in cars carrying children, with the vision that it should be easy for all islanders to live a life where cancer risks are minimised,” she added.
Ms Cataroche added: “While we have substantially reduced the reporting lag for our cancer data, we have ambitions to reduce it further still to give us the most timely and relevant information about our population’s cancer experience”.
You can read about Jersey’s statistics HERE.