Study: Less Smoking, Fewer Cancer Deaths in Europe

Fewer people are dying of cancer in Europe, but lung-cancer deaths among women are increasing in countries such as Hungary and Scotland where more women are smoking, Reuters reported Nov. 30.

The number of deaths from lung and other tobacco-related cancers fell among men due to a decline in smoking, according to researchers from Italy’s Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research.

Researchers studied data from 1990 to 1994 and compared it with data from 2000-2004. They found that the number of cancer deaths in Europe fell by 9 percent among males and 8 percent in females overall.

Lung, mouth, pharynx and esophagus cancers rose in countries where alcohol and tobacco use has increased, however, according to the study.

“Further reduction of tobacco smoking remains the key priority for cancer control in Europe,” said Cristina Bosetti, who authored the study and heads the cancer unit at the Institute’s department of epidemiology.

The study was published online in the Annals of Oncology.