MANY Scots are scepticalofhealth messages on preventing cancer and think governments use them to hide the real causes of the disease.

A survey has found that people worry about environmental factors, such as pesticidesenteringthefoodchain, electricity pylons and mobile phones, as possible causes of cancer.

But campaigns warning of the dangers ofsmoking,forexample,areoften viewedwithsuspicion.Onetypical comment was: "Government intentions towardscigarettesmokersareto disguise what the real problems are."

The research will be presented in full at a major conference tomorrow held by the Cancer Care Research Centre at the University of Stirling. Opened three years ago, it is the only centre in the UK dedicated to examining patients' views and experiences of the disease.

New figures, published last week by the NHS, show that thanks to improved treatments and detection, mortality rates from all types of cancer have fallen byaround8%overthepastdecade inScotland,withsignificantdrops recorded in bowel cancer, female breast cancer and prostate cancer.

However, the survey also revealed that people still perceive cancer to be the most frightening illness.

Ed Yong, Cancer Research UK's health information officer, pointed out that evidence was well established on the causes of cancer highlighted in health promotion campaigns. "Scientific studies have consistently shown that certain lifestyle choices, such as smoking, lack of exercise or over-exposure to the sun, can affect our risk of cancer," he said. "It takes many years and many different studies to confirm these links."

The conference will discuss findings from nine research studies which have examined how people across Scotland think about and experience cancer. Amongthoseattendingwillbethe health secretary Nicola Sturgeon and poet Liz Lochhead, who will talk about the language associated with cancer.

Bill Culbard, 64, who became involved with a group in Stirling after being diagnosed with lung cancer, said it allowed participants to "make a difference".

"As the members of the group are either patients, carers or family members, we have considerable experience and this is taken seriously by the researchers," he added.