Half of us will get cancer, new analysis of data shows

One in two people in Britain will develop cancer at some point in their lives, says Cancer Research UK. A new technique for analysing cancer rates has led the charity to significantly boost the numbers of people who may be at risk, says the BBC.

The new figures show that 54 per cent of men and 48 per cent of women in the UK will get cancer. But the charity stresses that it is still possible to improve your chances by living a healthier lifestyle – and adds that survival rates are also up.

The previous estimate was that around one in three people would get some form of the disease – and the new prediction is due to more sophisticated and accurate ways of collating the data.

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However, both the old and new analyses show a long-term rise in cancer rates. This is partly due to the fact that people are living longer lives, thanks largely to fewer deaths from heart disease and infections.

But lead researcher Professor Peter Sasieni, from Queen Mary University of London, said a healthy lifestyle could lower the lifetime risk from 50 per cent to 30 per cent.

Sasieni said: "It isn't inevitable. There is quite a lot we can do to prevent cancer and hopefully in many years' time I'll have been proven completely wrong."

Lung cancer in women is still on the rise. Tumours in the food pipe caused by the acid reflux which accompanies obesity are rapidly becoming more common, as are head and neck cancers caused by the human papillomavirus, transmitted by oral sex.

NHS England's clinical director of cancer, Sean Duffy, said: "Cancer survival rates in England are at an all-time high, but this new forecast shows it is more important than ever to take a fresh look at how we can do even better."