WINNIPEG — While the number of Canadians being diagnosed with cancer continues to rise, more people are living longer and beyond their diagnosis with the disease.
The findings are part of a new report — Canadian Cancer Statistics 2016 — released by the Canadian Cancer Society in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Statistics Canada.
The report found 810,045 Canadians — or 2.4 percent of the population — have lived more than 10 years with cancer.
“We are making progress as the number of people surviving cancer continues to improve,” said Erin Crawford, senior director, public issues and community engagement for the Canadian Cancer Society, Manitoba.
“However, cancer continues to be the leading cause of death in Canada and this year 202,400 families will face a cancer diagnosis and we expect that number to
increase over the next 15 years when one-in-four Canadians will be 65 or older.
The report also found that cancer prevention efforts, earlier detection and better treatments have prevented another 180,000 deaths in Canada since 1988. This includes 31,624 lung cancer deaths and 32,170 breast cancer deaths.
The Society is urging Canadians to get the HPV vaccine to prevent the cancer-causing infection.
“This report shows us for the first time how many Canadians are being affected by HPV cancers,” said Dr. Robert Nuttall, the Society’s assistant director, health policy.
“These cancers are largely preventable through vaccination. In the moment it takes to vaccinate your children, you are helping to protect them from cancer in the future.”
This year, nearly 4,400 Canadians will be diagnosed with an HPV cancer and about 1,200 Canadians will die from an HPV cancer.