6.1 Summary

Lung cancer was the third most common cancer in Ireland, accounting for 10% of all malignant neoplasms, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, in women and 15% in men (Table 6.1). The average number of new lung cancer cases diagnosed each year was 1,000 in women and 1,602 in men. During 1995-2007, the number of new cases diagnosed increased by approximately 3% per annum for women and 1% for men.

The risk of developing lung cancer up to the age of 74 was 1 in 37 for women and 1 in 20 for men, and was higher in NI than in RoI for both males and women. At the end of 2008, 708 women and 768 men aged under 65, and 1,330 women and 1,577 men aged 65 and over, were alive up to 15 years after their lung cancer diagnosis.

Table 6.1 Summary information for lung cancer in Ireland, 1995-2007

Lung cancer is mostly a disease of older people—the majority of cases occurred in those aged 70 and over (Figure 6.1). Less than 5% of cases presented in persons aged under 50.

Figure 6.1 Age distribution of lung cancer cases in Ireland, 1995-2007, by sex