3.b - cancer in UK

Question 1

Is there a pattern of life expectancy in the UK?

Answer 1

Higher life expectancy in south
women live longer

Question 2

why is there a pattern of life expectancy in the UK?

Answer 2

places with higher deprivation and inequality have lower life expectancy
diet - cheaper to eat UPF that is high in fat, salt and sugar
exercise/lifestyle (especially in youth) (smoking)
education - about exercise/eating etc
healthcare - deprivation = demand/strain on services is greater

Question 3

what stage of the ETM is the UK?

Answer 3

stage 4
AC
healthcare is good so CDs are pretty much gone
NCDs are more prevalent due to lifestyle etc. Lots of older people - diseases of aging pop are common

Question 4

what lifestyle factors influence increased cancer risk? (CAUSES OF CANCER IN UK)

Answer 4

increased risks of cancer are associated with obesity, poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and alcohol abuse
largely as a result of changing lifestyles, since the 1970s cancer rates in the cpUK have risen by 23% for men and 43% women
causes are often preventable

Question 5

what impacts do sunbathing have?

Answer 5

sun beds indicate a cultural preference for a tanned look, despite the evident risks of skin cancer
opportunities for sunbathing have increased in the past 50 yrs, with growing wealth and the advent of affordable package holidays to destinations e.g. Mediterranean and florida

Question 6

what is the impact of diet/alcohol consumption? (CAUSES OF CANCER IN UK)

Answer 6

wealth = changes in diet and preferences for meat and dairy products, fast food and prepacked ready meals
changes that are linked to an increase in bowel cancer
with higher incomes, alcohol consumption invariably increases, increasing the risk of oral, oesophageal and liver cancers.

Question 7

what is the impact of exercise? (CAUSES OF CANCER IN UK)

Answer 7

lack of exercise and more sedentary lifestyles, together with changes in diet, have driven an epidemic of obesity in the UK and other ACs and increased risk of cancer and CVDs

Question 8

what is the impact of smoking ? (CAUSES OF CANCER IN UK)

Answer 8

despite a decline in the popularity of smoking, it remains the biggest single cause of cancer among both men and women
nearly 1/5 of all cancer cases diagnosed each year are smoking related

Question 9

what is cancer’s cost to the UK economy? (SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CANCER)

Answer 9

2 mill people are living with cancer in the UK today, costing the UK economy £15 bill/yr due to early deaths, patients taking time off work, treatment on the NHS and the cost of unpaid care

Question 10

what is cancer’s cost to the UK individual? (SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CANCER)

Answer 10

avg cost to patients £570/monthly
includes loss of income, cost of medical appts/prescriptions and extra heating costs

Question 11

what are the social negatives to the UK individual? (SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CANCER)

Answer 11

cancer sufferers often experience social isolation,
anxiety resulting from loss of income and further physical as well as mental health problems

Question 12

what is the link between inequality and cancer? (SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CANCER)

Answer 12

deprivation increases the likelihood of smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity (all major causes of cancer)
in the UK, cancer rates in some of the poorest areas are 3x greater than most affluent
glasgow has the highest cancer rate of any UK health authority, and its no coincidence that in wider central scotland region over 1/2 the population lives in wards which are among 20% most deprived in UK.
the association between deprivation and cancer is also strongly enriched in former industrial areas.

Question 13

what is the deprivation gap in survival rates? (SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF CANCER)

Answer 13

survival rates are also affected by socio-economic status
for all types of cancer there is a deprivation gap, with the more affluent having better survival chances than most deprived
for example, 14.2% more women in the “most affluent group” survive bladder cancer compared w/ their most deprived counterparts
this difference is largely explained by pre-existing health status and speed of diagnosis

Question 14

how is the UK government tackling cancer?

Answer 14

direct strategies
indirect strategies
the govts targets in its fight against cancer are to save 50,000 lives/yr, increase survival rates and decrease the gap in survival rates that exists

Question 15

how do investments in medical technology help the UK govt tackle cancer? (DIRECT STRATEGIES)

Answer 15

such as more precise forms of radiotherapy and diagnostic methods e.g. endoscopy for early diagnosis and intervention
mass screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancer is already well established and has proved highly effective
however survival rates could be improved further by decreasing waiting times between diagnosis and treatment and giving more support to GPs in referrals to consultations

Question 16

how does the role of cancer research help the UK govt tackle cancer? (DIRECT STRATEGIES)

Answer 16

cancer research focuses on improving understanfing of the disease, developing new treatments, discovering new drugs and exploiting the potential of genetic engineering
cancer UK is a charity that researched the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
funded by donations, legacies and charity events, it operates at hospitals and universities throughout the UK.

Question 17

how do education/health campaigns help the UK govt tackle cancer? (DIRECT STRATEGIES)

Answer 17

indirect approaches emphasise changes in lifestyle and cancer prevention.
education and health campaigns informing the public of the dangers of smoking, excessive drinking and unbalanced diets can decrease the incidence of preventable cancers.

Question 18

what have been the impacts of direct/indirect strategies on UK skin cancer rates?

Answer 18

skin cancer has increase significantly. year-on-year rise of 3%
the govt has intervened directly by legislating to control the commercial use of sunbeds, w/ age limits for users and standards of supervision/staff training. direct clinical treatment involves surgery to remove malignant melanomas and chemotherapy
publicity campaigns warn of the dangers of sunbathing and advice on sunscreens.
skin cancer is a preventable disease which can be controlled by modifications of behaviour and attitudes.

Question 19

can we ‘cure’ cancer?

Answer 19

education is probably best way to limit risk
an element of inevitability (to an extent)
difficult to cure but we can focus on delaying rather than curing.

Question 20

AO2 comments - direct strategies

Answer 20

roughly 50% survival rates
direct actually treats cancer
requires more investment and research to improve
expensive
easy to prove makes a big difference

Question 21

AO2 comments - indirect strategies

Answer 21

easier to implement
education, changing lifestyle, better diet
can tackle CAUSE. 4 in 10 cases preventable.
relatively cheap
better for younger people
harder to prove how this translates to cancer rates. harder to quantify

Question 22

what indirect strategies have been used to reduce smoking?

Answer 22

tax cigarettes
grim pictures
bans in public transport/pubs
bans in cars with children
sold behind counter
banned advertising
increasing minimum age to buy

Question 23

ndirect strategies have been used to reduce smoking - AO2 comments

Answer 23

ultimately trying to make smoking MORE DIFFICULT
tax on poor people = criticism

Question 24

what has a decrease in smoking rates done to decrease lung cancer rates?

Answer 24

ung cancer rates decrease in men in parallel to a decrease in smoking rates
2/3 smoked in 1950s -> 20% in 2010
lung cancer rates halved
nature of professions
changing also plays a role

Question 25

how is the bowel scope screening programme being extended by the government? (direct strategies)

Answer 25

spending £60 million on testing the bowel scope screening programme
-which uses a camera to look for signs of cancer inside people’s bowels
and expanding it across the country by 2016 to save 3000 lives a year

Question 26

how is the government improving radiotherapy to treat cancer? (direct strategies)

Answer 26

investing £250 million to develop proton beam therapy, which delivers a more precise dose to a targeted area rather than making people unwell overall
making up to £6 million available over the next 5 years to fund the NHS treatment costs of 6 new Cancer research UK clinical trials for SABR (stereotactic ablative radiotherapy)
UK has wealth = can afford to invest