The incidences of cancer in England and Wales are higher in the North West of England than any other part of the country.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the age-standardised cancer incidence rate was 11.5% higher in the North West compared to London.
The ONS though caution when interpreting regional variations that the differences might be due to a number of influencing factors rather than being a true difference in cancer incidence. One reason being the variation between regions in deprivation, where high levels of deprivation have been associated with higher levels of certain types of cancer.
Across all types of cancer incidence, the rate ranged from 571.0 (London) to 636.6 (North West) per 100,000 people, and the average in England was 601.2.
The figures showed that in England there were 292,680 invasive malignant cancer diagnoses registered in 2013.
Breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer accounted for over half of the malignant cancer registrations in England for all ages combined.
Broken down by age, leukaemia was the most common cancer in children aged 0 to 14. In teenagers and adults aged 15 to 49, male testicular cancer and female breast cancer were the most common cancers diagnosed.
From the age of 50, prostate and breast are the most common cancers for males and females respectively.
