Cancer in Norway 2007

There were 25 943 new cases of cancer in Norway in 2007, of which 14 001 occurred among men and 11 942 among women.

Cancers of the prostate, female breast, colon and lung constitute half of the total cancer burden (13 096 new cases).

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men (4391), followed by colorectal (1651) and lung cancer (1474).

Breast cancer is the most frequent neoplasm in women, with 2761 new cases in 2007, followed by colorectal and lung cancer, with 1724 and 1076 incident cases, respectively.

Increase rapidly with age

Cancer rates increase rapidly with age, with the vast majority in Norway – about 86% in men and 77% in women occuring in persons aged over 55.

The highest proportion of cancers occur in the 55-74 age group, with almost half of all cancers diagnosed in men, and approximately 40% of those diagnosed in women, occurring within this age range.

Cumulative risk

Among men, the highest cumulative risk of 11.9 is that of prostate cancer, and indicates, in the absence of competing causes of death, that approximately one in eight men currently develop this cancer in their lifetime (defined as ages 0-74). The corresponding risk of developing lung cancer is much lower in comparison, estimated at 4.5.

In women, the cumulative risk of breast cancer ranks highest, with the figure of 8.2 indicating that about one in 12 women develop this disease, in the absence of other causes. As with men, colorectal and lung cancers rank second and third.

Patterns and trends in cancer survival