LUNG cancer rates for women are soaring as result of targeted advertising by tobacco companies in the 1980s.
While fewer men are being diagnosed with lung cancer, the deadly disease is still rising among women.
The new figures show that between 2004 and 2014 incidence of lung cancer among Scottish men dropped by 13.9% but rose in women by 10.7%.
Read more: Rise in early lung cancer detection after Sir Alex Ferguson adverts
Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s senior public affairs manager in Scotland, said this reflected trends in the popularity of smoking. He said: “Male smoking peaked in the 1970s and started declining at that point. For women it was more in the 1980s.
“Also tobacco marketing focused more on women in the 1980s, targeting housewives.
“The lung cancer rates are a decade behind for women.”
If the figures are adjusted for age, incidence of cancer in general dropped by 3% for men but increased by 6% for women over the decade to 2014.
This is party driven by the lung cancer discrepancy, but breast cancer, cervix and womb cancer have all risen among women. The report issued by the information arm of NHS Scotland linked these increases to breast screening identifying more tumours, women giving birth later in life and having fewer children, higher rates of obesity and alcohol consumption.
A charity has warned Scotland's cancer support system "isn't working" and called for a new Scottish Government plan amid figures showing cases have risen by 14% in ten years.
Read more: Cancer rates soar by 14 per cent in a decade
Macmillan in Scotland said the figures are "a stark reminder of the growing number of people being diagnosed with cancer".
With three-quarters of cancers diagnosed in people aged 60 and over, Macmillan said the figures illustrate the pressures of an ageing population.
In 2014, 31,711 people in Scotland were diagnosed with cancer, up from 27,820 ten years ago, according to figures from the NHS Information Services Division (ISD Scotland).
Rates have decreased by 3% for men to 15,528 but increased by 6% for women to 16,183.
Lung cancer remains the most common cancer in Scotland, with 5,307 diagnoses in 2014, followed by breast cancer (4,610) and colorectal cancer (3,721).
Lung cancer has fallen 14% in males but risen 11% in females, reflecting historic trends in the prevalence of smoking which have differed between men and women, according to ISD Scotland.
Breast cancer has risen by 7%, partly due to increased screening and detection, but the rise in older mothers, falling family size, obesity and alcohol are all thought to be contributing factors.
Read more: Sir Alex Ferguson 'honoured' to open lung cancer unit after parents died from disease
Colorectal cancer has decreased by 3% in women and a "significant" 7% in men, with diet, physical activity and long-term smoking thought to be contributing factors.
Elspeth Atkinson, director of Macmillan in Scotland, said: "These figures are a stark reminder of the growing number of people being diagnosed with cancer.
"An ageing population means more of us will be living with cancer and other long-term conditions.
"The figures illustrate the need for a better support service for people with the physical, practical, emotional and financial problems cancer causes.
"The current system isn't working, which is why the cancer plan must be delivered by the new Scottish Parliament."
Gregor McNie, public affairs manager at Cancer Research UK in Scotland, said: "While these statistics show that the number of people being diagnosed with cancer is increasing, the good news is that thanks to research, cancer survival has doubled since the 1970s.
"Cancer Research UK's work has been at the heart of that progress.
"However, we mustn't stop here. The rising numbers of people diagnosed means there is more strain than ever on cancer services and it's vital that the Scottish Government acts swiftly on its £100 million cancer plan and focuses resources where they're most needed."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel