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London's cancer hot spots
Nicholas Cecil, Political Correspondent20 Nov 2007
Kingston is London's hot spot for skin, breast and prostate cancer, according to a new study.
It is one of the boroughs in the capital with the highest rates of all three types of cancer.
The Cancer Inequalities in London report by the Thames Cancer Registry reveals stark differences in cancer levels in different areas.
It shows the highest rates for skin cancer are in Kingston, Richmond & Twickenham, Sutton & Merton, Croydon and Havering.
For breast cancer, rates are highest in Kingston, Richmond & Twickenham, Westminster, Bromley and Bexley, although the areas' death rates from the disease are low or average.
Prostate cancer affects a higher proportion of men in Kingston, Wandsworth, Lewisham, Lambeth, City & Hackney and Havering.
Dr Tim Crayford, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health and public health chief for Croydon, said: "The differences in society and affluence are reflected very clearly in diseases such as cancer.
"Outer boroughs such as Richmond & Twickenham and Kingston have smaller proportions of people from minority ethnic groups who are less likely to develop skin cancer.
"These areas are also affluent and affluence is linked to breast and skin cancer."
Lung cancer among men is most prevalent in inner London, including Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Lambeth, as well as Isington, Greenwich and Barking & Dagenham.
Rates for women are highest in Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Newham, Islington, Barking & Dagenham and Greenwich.
Deaths from lung cancer are generally highest in the areas where the disease is most widespread.
The report's authors, Professor Henrik M¯ller and Dr Elizabeth Davies, senior lecturer at the registry, said: "The more detailed investigation of the distribution... confirms the continuing relationship between smoking-related cancers and deprivation."
For more detailed information about the capital's cancer hotspots, click here
