Over-65s with cancer to terrible by 2040

LONDON: Cancer will become a fact of life for many people over the age of 65, according to researchers and a cancer charity.

According to the Daily mail, a study is based upon the number of people expected to be living with cancer in the UK by the year 2040.

Figures from 2009 show that around 2 million people in the UK had been diagnosed with cancer and were still alive. These people are referred to as "cancer survivors". By using national cancer statistics and recent population trends for England, the researchers made predictions about how many people they expected to be living with cancer by 2040 and generalised their findings for the UK.

They estimated that the number of UK cancer survivors was projected to rise by about 1 million a decade up to 2040, based on continued trends. They also estimated that the number of over-65s with a cancer diagnosis would rise from 1.3 million in 2010 to 4.1 million in 2040.

This sort of study can provide useful estimates that may help with future health resource planning, but it should be noted that the figures given are only estimates of how many people will have cancer by 2040. (Monitoring Desk)