Interesting Trends in Cancer Incidence in Hong Kong
Publish date：2021-03-16
Several questions are commonly asked when we discuss the local cancer incidence: Is cancer the biggest cause of death in HK? Which are the commonest cancers in HK? What are the gender differences? Is there a shift to cancer occurring at a younger age?
Fortunately, a relatively detailed database is kept and updated constantly in Hong Kong – the HK Cancer Registry, so it is possible to address these questions without much difficulty.
Cancer is indeed the biggest cause of death in HK, with almost 200 people out of 100K having died of cancer in 2019. This compares with only 123 deaths from pneumonia (second largest cause of death) and 81 from heart disease (third largest) per 100K population. So, the number of deaths from cancer is close to deaths from the 2nd and 3rd commonest causes combined!
In terms of incidence, it is estimated that on average, an individual in HK have a lifetime risk of 20-25% of getting cancer up to the age of 75yr (the chance is even higher beyond 75yrs!). In other words, an average person in Hong Kong has up to a 1 in 4 chance of getting cancer during the first 75 years of his/her life – this is indeed a sobering statistic when we consider how common this disease is, and when we consider buying a medical insurance!
There have also been some changes to the commonest cancers in HK, and there are indeed differences between the genders. Colorectal cancer has now exceeded lung cancer to become the commonest cancer overall, lung cancer is now the second commonest cancer. There are significant gender differences too. For males, the commonest cancers are colorectal, lung and prostate cancers, in that order. For females, the commonest cancers are breast, colorectal and lung in that order. It is interesting to note that for men, incidence of prostate cancer in men is rising fast, with a staggering 300% rise over the past 3 decades!
Finally, it is the question of cancer incidence in younger population. According to local data from the Registry, there is a slight trend of increase in cancer incidence among the 20-44yr age group, which has increased from 96/100K in year 2000 to 109/100K in 2018. This represents roughly 13% increase over 18 years. It would be interesting to study and speculate on the reason for this trend, but the point is that even young people need to be aware of cancer risk and should adopt healthier lifestyles.
Source: Clinical Oncologist, Dr. Conrad Lee
Fortunately, a relatively detailed database is kept and updated constantly in Hong Kong – the HK Cancer Registry, so it is possible to address these questions without much difficulty.
Cancer is indeed the biggest cause of death in HK, with almost 200 people out of 100K having died of cancer in 2019. This compares with only 123 deaths from pneumonia (second largest cause of death) and 81 from heart disease (third largest) per 100K population. So, the number of deaths from cancer is close to deaths from the 2nd and 3rd commonest causes combined!
In terms of incidence, it is estimated that on average, an individual in HK have a lifetime risk of 20-25% of getting cancer up to the age of 75yr (the chance is even higher beyond 75yrs!). In other words, an average person in Hong Kong has up to a 1 in 4 chance of getting cancer during the first 75 years of his/her life – this is indeed a sobering statistic when we consider how common this disease is, and when we consider buying a medical insurance!
There have also been some changes to the commonest cancers in HK, and there are indeed differences between the genders. Colorectal cancer has now exceeded lung cancer to become the commonest cancer overall, lung cancer is now the second commonest cancer. There are significant gender differences too. For males, the commonest cancers are colorectal, lung and prostate cancers, in that order. For females, the commonest cancers are breast, colorectal and lung in that order. It is interesting to note that for men, incidence of prostate cancer in men is rising fast, with a staggering 300% rise over the past 3 decades!
Finally, it is the question of cancer incidence in younger population. According to local data from the Registry, there is a slight trend of increase in cancer incidence among the 20-44yr age group, which has increased from 96/100K in year 2000 to 109/100K in 2018. This represents roughly 13% increase over 18 years. It would be interesting to study and speculate on the reason for this trend, but the point is that even young people need to be aware of cancer risk and should adopt healthier lifestyles.
Source: Clinical Oncologist, Dr. Conrad Lee
